Rie Nakajima is a sculptor. She creates sound using a combination of motorised devices and everyday objects in the context of installations and performances. Her work exists on the borderline between sculpture and music, welcoming chance as it emerges through the making process, the influence of others, and the conditions encountered on site. At the core of her practice is an exploration of how sound takes shape and finds its own place within the spontaneous, improvisational relationship between space and objects.
Collaboration is an essential part of her practice. Her frequent collaborators include Pierre Berthet, Angharad Davies, Yuko Shiraishi, David Cunningham, Max Eastley, David Toop, and Akira Sakata. Rie has also been a member of O YAMA O since 2014. She has had solo exhibitions at IKON Gallery (Birmingham), NoShowSpace (London), ShugoArts Weekend Gallery (Tokyo), Void+ (Tokyo), and Annely Juda Gallery (London). She has collaborated with Museo Vostell Malpartida (Cáceres), Association Le Cyclop (Milly-la-Forêt), STUK (Leuven), Donaueschinger Musiktage (Donaueschingen), Cafe OTO (London), among many others.
彫刻家・中島吏英はモーターを用いた装置と日用品を組み合わせ、インスタレーションやパフォーマンスを通して音による作品を制作しています。中島の作品は彫刻と音楽の境界に身を置き、制作プロセスで生まれる偶然性や他者との関わり、その場で出会う環境や条件を受け入れながら展開されます。その実践の核にあるのは、空間と物との間に生まれる自発的かつ即興的な関係性の中で、音がどのように「かたち」を成し、自らの「場所」を見出していくのかを探求することです。
コラボレーションは中島の実践において重要な要素であり、これまで継続的に協働してきたアーティストには、ピエール・ベルテ、アンガラッド・デイヴィス、白石由子、デヴィッド・カニンガム、マックス・イーストリー、デヴィッド・トゥープ、坂田明がいます。また、2014年からは「O YAMA O」のメンバーとしても活動しています。これまでに、IKON Gallery（バーミンガム）、NoShowSpace（ロンドン）、シュウゴアーツ・ウィークエンド・ギャラリー（東京）、Void+（東京）、Annely Juda Gallery（ロンドン）などで個展を開催し、また、Museo Vostell Malpartida（カセレス）、Association Le Cyclop（ミリー＝ラ＝フォレ）、STUK（ルーヴェン）、Donaueschinger Musiktage（ドナウエッシンゲン）、Cafe OTO（ロンドン）など、数多くの美術館や芸術機関、フェスティバルと協働してきました。
Solo Exhibitions:
2024 'Air Recycle', Annely Juda Gallery, London
2022 'Flat', Void+, Tokyo
2022 'In Sounds, In Places', La Chaufferie, Strasbourg
2020 'See-Saw', Labor Neunzehn, Berlin
2019 'Stepping', STUK, Leuven
2018 'Cyclic', Ikon Gallery, Birmingham
2017 'Paging', Breakthrough Book Gallery, Hong Kong
2016 'Throw', Borealis Music Festival, Lydgalleriet, Bergen
2015 'becoming sounds', ShugoArts Weekend Gallery, Tokyo
2015 'Leave', Karin Weber Gallery, Around Sound Festival, Sound Pocket, Hong Kong
2014 'Fall', noshowspace, London
2010 'I Can Hear It', Soundfjord, London
2010 'pun∼q'', Quare, London
2009 'Unwind', Void+, Tokyo
Selected Group Shows:
2026 'Unlincenced Goods', ydp Gallery, London
2024 ‘Instruments Play Music’, with Pierre Berthet, Kunstlab, Deventer
2023 ‘Donaueschinger Music Tage 2023’, with Pierre Berthet, Donaueschingen
2023 ‘The Sound’, Monheim Triennale II, Monheim am Rhein
2023 ‘Murmures En Fractales, Des Récits Qui Nous Accompagnent…’ with Pierre Berthet Le Cyclop, Milly la Forêt
2023 'Drums Listens to Heart', The Wattis, San Francisco
2022 ‘Three Days: Haruko Nakajima & Rie Nakajima’, Yanaka Idaten, Tokyo
2022 ‘Everywhere Gather Yourself Stand’, Yutaka Kikutake Gallery, Tokyo
2022 ‘Sonic Garden’, French School of Athens, Athens
2022 'Hear Here: Walk along sound art', Leuven
2021 'Listening to the Anthropocene', Coventry Biennial, Coventry
2021 'Klang Moor Festival', Gais
2021 'Polyphony', Kunstsammlung Gera Orangerie & Museum Für Angewandte Kunst, Gera
2020 'Klangkünste - drei Positionen an den Rändern eines weiten Feldes', Kunsthaus Wiesbaden, Wiesbaden
2019 'Big Orchestra', Schirn, Frankfurt
2019 'Persisting Realities', Kunstraum Kreuzberg, Bethanien, Berlin
2016 'What Are We Building Down There?' Bucharest Biennale, Bucharest
2014 'No Music Was Playing', Instants Chavirés, Montreuil
2013 'The Silence Between', Paul Stolper Gallery, London
2009 'Zen und Konkret', Quilow
Selected Performances:
2025 ‘Dead Plants & Living Objects by Rie Nakajima & Pierre Berthet’, Music for the Eyes Festival, Varmlands Museum, Varmlands
2025 Kiln Äänipäivät, Kemiö Island, Finland (solo)
2025 Ensamble Nist-Nah, Musée d’Art de Nantes, Nantes
2025 Akira Sakata & Pierre Berthet & Rie Nakajima, Belgium Pavilion, Osaka Expo,` Osaka
2025 Max Eastley & Rie Nakajima, Cafe OTO, London
2024 ‘The Detail of the Whole’, Deep Time Festival, Basquiat Cage 8424, curated by Elaine Mitchener, Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh (solo)
2023 ‘Akira Sakata + Pierre Berthet + Rie Nakajima’, Embassy of Belgium in Tokyo, Tokyo
2023 ‘Kazuko Miyamoto Exhibition’, Museo Madre, Napoli (solo)
2023 ‘Phill Niblock + Thurston Moor + Rie Nakajima’, Cafe OTO, London
2023 ‘O YAMA O GALO release’, O YAMA O, Cafe OTO, London
2022 ‘Maggie Nichols Residency’, Cafe OTO, London
2022 ‘Next Festival’, Bratislava
2022 ‘The Wire 40: The Tao Of AMM x The Essence Of SME’, Cafe OTO, London
2022 'Dead Plants & Living Objects', Villa Stuck, Munich
2019 'O YAMA O', Festival Novas Frequências, Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro
2019 'dara dara by David Toop + Akio Suzuki + Aki Onda + Rie Nakajima', Oscillation Festival, Recyclart, Brussels
2019 'O YAMA O with David Cunningham', BBC Late Junction Festival, EartH, London
2019 'Akira Sakata x Rie Nakajima Live Performance', Hara Museum, Tokyo
2017 'Dead Plants & Living Objects by Rie Nakajima & Pierre Berthet', Meakusma Festival, Eupen
2016 'Saturday Live : Low', Serpentine Gallery, London (solo)
2016 'BMW Tate Live:Tarek Atoui The Reverse Collection', Tate Modern, London
2016 'On the Edge: Young on Sylvian – Skrap – Rowe/Toop/Davies/Nakajima/ Durrant', Nasjonal Jazzscene, Oslo
2015 'Performance Nacht, Zero', Martin Gropius Bau, Berlin (solo)
2015 'Christian Marclay', White Cube, London (solo)
2015 'Over the Fence', Camden Art Centre, London (solo)
2015 'boundary music', Whitechapel Gallery, London
2014 'New Experimentalists', The Arts Foundation Award, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre, London (solo)
2013 'Blue, Yellow, Red' South London Gallery, London
2010 'Art Birthday', Okno, Brussels (solo)
2010 'A lot of pedals', A lot of pianos..., curated by David Cunningham, at Markson Piano, London
2009 'Takahiro Kawaguchi + Rie Nakajima', Void+, Tokyo
© Rie Nakajima