If Pythagoras, Aristotle or any of the other axial luminaries of the Classical World were alive today, they might just be working as conceptual artists in the mold of Hitoshi Nomura, rather than philosophers and scientists. This is because the science and philosophy that these intellectual giants practiced were infused with a mysticism and metaphysical side quite at odds with the strict criteria and dry agendas of their modern equivalents, and much more in keeping with the interests and artistic methods of Nomura, whose career is the subject of a major retrospective at the National Art Center Tokyo (NACT).
As "Nomura Hitoshi: Perceptions — Changes in Time and Field" shows, the 64-year-old artist has attempted to reveal and encapsulate the unseen forces of nature that move and shape our universe, often with the same kind of mystical bent that drove the greatest minds of ancient thought, in his 40-year career.
The exhibition is also notable because of the museum's attempt to make contemporary art accessible to the wider public. Nomura is the subject of volume four of NACT's free bilingual booklet, "Door to Contemporary Art," a series that is carefully written to explain art to general readers.