「天才」と呼ばれた芸術家の生前の姿を、
緻密な取材にもとづき一冊の評伝に仕上げた
ノンフィクション・ライター村岡俊也。
当時の取材を振り返り、再び中園に思いを馳せる。
In 2015, the painter Nakazono Koji died prematurely at 25.
Nonfiction writer Muraoka Toshiya has compiled a biography
of the life of the artist who was called a genius,
based on in-depth interviews.
Looking back on the coverage in those days,
he thinks back to Nakazono again.
KOJI NAKAZONO
中園孔二
村岡俊也◎文
二〇二三年夏に上梓した『穏やかなゴースト 画家・中園孔二を追って』は、タイトルにある通り、二十五歳で急逝した画家・中園孔二の足跡を辿り、縁ある人々から話を聞いてまとめたものだ。初めて中園の絵を観た時に感じた「わからなさ」は、三年半の取材と執筆の過程で少しずつ形を変えた。話を伺っていた期間は、彼が二〇一五年の夏に高松の海で亡くなってからおよそ七年が経った頃で、それは記憶が深く沈み込む前であると同時に、生々しさから逃れ始めたタイミングだったのだと思う。中園の友人、あるいは恋人たちは、それぞれの中に留めていた大切な話を分け合うように聞かせてくれた。
エピソードを繋ぎ合わせれば、その人物を描き出すことができるわけではない。だが、何かを表現するとは、断片を散りばめて、核心を浮かび上がらせることかもしれない。
中園は、自身の絵を説明するときに、「外縁」という言葉を使った。伝えたい「景色は一個」であって、絵という媒介を使って外縁を形成し、その真ん中にある決して触れられないもの、目には見えないけれど確かにあるものを浮かび上がらせる。そんな風に自身の絵を説明していた。ならば断片が多いほど、輪郭は明瞭になるはずで、中園は多作だった。高校二年生でバスケットボール部を辞めて、鎌倉駅近くにあった「鎌倉美術研究所」という美大予備校に入って絵を描き始めてから、二十五歳で亡くなるまでに六〇〇点近い作品を残している。
中園孔二《無題》2012年作、藝大の卒展で発表された。「中園孔二 ソウルメイト」展でも展示された
評伝においても、彼を構成する要素をできるだけ多く記録したいと考えていた。
藝大時代の年上の同級生である稲田禎洋（いなだ・よしひろ）は、中園と一緒に野外展示の立て込みのアルバイトをした時の話を聞かせてくれた。嵐がやってきて、仮設テントで雨宿りをした。二人で他愛もない会話をしながら真っ直ぐに落ちる雨を見ていた。飛沫が顔に跳ねる。耳の奥で鳴るような雨音。世界から断絶されたように、でも悲壮感など微塵もなく、雨宿りする二人。そこで共有された「何か」は、言葉にはならない。けれど、稲田が大切な思い出として語ってくれたように、おそらく中園の中にもその「何か」は沈殿し、適切なタイミングで浮かび上がってきたのではないか。絵はそのようにして描かれる。中園を追いかけるうちに、私はそのことを知った。
幼い頃からの遊び場だった横須賀市の鷹取山からの風景
校了間際に話を伺ったために、評伝には書けなかったエピソードがある。現在は愛媛県美術館の主任学芸員を務める喜安嶺（きやす・れい）は、二〇一二年当時、川崎市市民ミュージアムで働いていた。先輩の学芸員からグループ展を行うために若手作家について調べてくるように言われ、いくつかの美大の卒展をハシゴする中で中園の作品と出会った。本人はその会場にいなかったが、その場にいた学生から「ここに連絡したらいいですよ」と中園のメールアドレスを教えてもらった。
藝大卒業の直後から中園は横浜市金沢区の実家を出て、千葉県松戸市に住居兼アトリエを構えていた。二世帯住宅の二階部分にあたり、外階段を使って入る構造だった。その年の夏、喜安はアトリエに中園を訪ねた。
「強烈に覚えているのは、叔母さんに言われて名前を変えようと思っているという話でした。今は本名なんだけど、画家として活動をするにあたって、晃二を孔二にしていきますって話をしてくれて。字面で印象も変わるのに、本名に対しても変えた後の名前にも、思い入れがある風でもなく、どこか他人事のようだったから印象に残っているんだと思います」
中園の作品のほとんどは《無題》であり、自身の名前に対しても何か似た考えがあったのかもしれない。名前は単にラベルのようなもので、あくまで実存に対する便宜上のもの。強烈な作品の印象とは異なり淡々と話す中園に対して、喜安は「佇まいの不思議さ」を感じたが、作家と作品の間に違和感は覚えなかった。
中園孔二《無題》sasanao蔵、2013年作。2023年、丸亀市猪熊弦一郎現代美術館で開催された「中園孔二 ソウルメイト」展での展示の様子
「小山登美夫ギャラリーが扱う作家になることが決まりつつあって、『だから勝手に絵を売ったりしてはいけない、みたいなことを言われているんです』って話していました。学生さんから所属の作家への変化のタイミングだったのだと思います。
私も話が上手くないから、すごく話が弾んだとか、刺激的な会話をしたという印象はなくて、これまでの取り組みとか挑戦について、彼は丁寧に話してくれた。私は学芸員としての適切な距離が取れていなくて、ただのファンのように、あなたの絵にとにかく惹かれたとそのまま伝えたような気がします。
どういう流れだったか覚えてないんですけど、気に入った絵があったらひとつどうぞって言ってくれたんですね。『どれが気に入ってます？』と訊かれて、ソファのある居間のスペースに飾ってあった絵について、『この作品、すごくいいですね』って答えたら、やっぱりね、みたいな感じのことを言われて。『ただ、友達のバンドのＣＤジャケットのために描いたものだから、お譲りできないんです』と言われました」
中園は、どんな人物が自分の作品を持っているかに自覚的だった。頼まれてイタリアンレストランの壁に絵を描いたことがあったが、その店のオーナーがシェフをいじめるような態度だったことを知り、わざわざ絵を消したことがある。初対面の喜安に「ひとつどうぞ」と気さくに語ったのは、好ましい印象を抱いたからだろう。連絡を取って、まだ無名の作家に会いに来てくれたことに対する返礼の意味もあったかもしれない。
気に入った絵を譲れないと言われた喜安は、別の油画が「ぎっしり詰まった空間」に案内されるが、その中から作品を選ぶことはしなかった。喜安は「今考えると、大変厚かましいことに」と振り返ったが、私にはとても真摯な態度のように聞こえた。中園が描いた絵なら、どれでもいいわけではない。
「中園孔二 ソウルメイト」展での展示の様子
ひと月も経たぬ間に、「ＣＤジャケットには別の絵が使われることになった」と連絡があり、喜安の元に、あの飾られていた絵が送られてきた。そこには中園がフィンランドに行った時に買ってきたであろう葉書が同封され、メッセージが添えられていた。
これから展示をする時にこの絵を出すことがあるかもしれません。
その時は少しの間、手元から離れることをゆるしてください！
藝大卒業直後に描かれたその絵には、窓辺なのかカーテンのように何かが垂れ下がっている。外は池か水溜りのような水辺で、スカートの人物が踊るようにして飛び跳ねている。水溜りからは同じ色をした手が突き出ていたり、首から上の頭が転がっていたりする。恐ろしさを感じさせる要素も入っているのに、愉しそうなピクニックの印象を受ける。深い森のどこかに、あるかもしれない牧歌的な風景。けれど、その場所に辿り着くためには、生死を賭した旅が必要だと暗示しているよう。
私もまだ実物を見たことはない。いずれ中園の展覧会が開かれる際には、「いつでも貸出します」と喜安は言った。それが中園との約束だから、と。
中園が亡くなった瀬戸内海。島を目指して泳ぎ出したという
「外縁」である中園の絵は、まとめて展示されることによって、渦巻くようなエネルギーが立ち上がって空間を統べる。その熱気に取り込まれて、彼のことを知りたくなる。少なくとも私はそうだった。けれど、たった一枚の絵と長い時間をかけて向き合い、外縁の断片を心の一部として生きることも、とても幸運な中園との付き合い方なのだろう。
中園孔二《無題》2009年作、神奈川県立近代美術館蔵。「てあて・まもり・のこす 神奈川県立近代美術館の保存修復」展
彼にとって親しい街だった鎌倉にある、神奈川県立近代美術館鎌倉別館で行われている〈てあて まもり のこす〉展で、収蔵作品が一点、展示されている。他の美術館に貸し出される際に、キャンバスの縁に描かれた絵の具が損傷しないようにと額を付けられた中園の絵。その前に立って、この絵を描いた二〇〇九年ごろの中園を想像する。藝大二年生。ここから何が始まるのか、彼はまだ知らない。それなのに、十分な予感に満ちて、私を誘う。
むらおか・としや
ノンフィクション・ライター。1978年生まれ。鎌倉市出身、同市在住。著書に『穏やかなゴースト 画家・中園孔二を追って』（新潮社）、『熊を彫る人』（写真家・在本彌生との共著、小学館）、『新橋パラダイス 駅前名物ビル残日録』（文藝春秋）などがある
Koji Nakazono
KOJI NAKAZONO
Toshiya Muraoka : Text
The book Odayakana Ghost (Gentle Ghost In Pursuit of the Painter Nakazono Koji) published in the summer of 2023, traces the footsteps of the painter Nakazono Koji, who died suddenly at the age of twenty-five. It is a compilation of interviews with people who had close relations with him. The confusion I felt when I first saw Nakazono's paintings has changed gradually over three and a half years of research and writing about him. The time I interviewed them was roughly seven years after Nakazono died at sea in Takamatsu in the summer of 2015, which I believe was before their memories were fading and at the same time when his death was becoming less graphic.Nakazono's friends and lovers shared their precious memories of him that each of them had kept in their hearts.
It is not possible to portray a person by piecing together the episodes people talk about.
However, to express something may be to scatter with fragments of a story once and then bring its core to emerge.
Nakazono used the term Gaien, the outside rim, when he described his paintings. There was only one view he wanted to convey. He used the painting as a medium to form the outside rim. He highlighted what was in the middle, what we could not touch, what was invisible to the eye but certainly there. He described his paintings in such a way. Then, the more fragments there are, the more distinct the outline should be. So Nakazono was prolific. He left the basketball team in his second year of high school. Then, he joined a cram school for art college called Kamakura Art Institute near Kamakura Station to begin painting. After all, he left nearly 600 works before his death at 25.
Nakazono Koji Untitled,2012 It was presented at the graduation exhibition of Tokyo University of the Arts. Also at Nakazono Koji Soul Mate exhibition
I wanted to document as many of his constituent elements as possible in his critical biography.
Inada Yoshihiro, a classmate from his days at Tokyo University of the Arts, told me about a time when he and Nakazono worked part-time to set up an outdoor exhibition. “As the storm hit, we took shelter from the rain in a temporary tent. The two of us watched the rain fall straight down as we talked about trivial matters. Rain splashed on our faces. We could hear the rain like it was ringing in our ears.We seemed broken off from the world, but there wasn't an air of grim determination.” The two of them just took shelter from the rain. The something shared there couldn’t be put into words. However, just as Inada spoke of his precious memories, this something probably existed deep within Nakazono and came to his on at the right time. That is how a picture is painted. I learned this as I followed Nakazono.
A view from Mt. Takatoriyama in Yokosuka City, a playground from his childhood
There is an episode that could not include in the critical biography because we interviewed her just before the proof of the book. Kiyasu Rei, who is now the chief curator of Ehime Prefectural Museum of Art, was working at the Kawasaki City Museum in 2012. She was asked by a senior curator to research young artists for a group exhibition. She came across Nakazono's artworks while she visited one art university graduation exhibition after another. Although he was not at the exhibition, one of the students gave her Nakazono's e-mail address to contact him.
After Nakazono graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts, he moved out of his parents' house in Kanazawa-ward, Yokohama. He set up a residence and studio in Matsudo City, Chiba Prefecture. The room was on the second floor of a two-family house, and he entered from an outside staircase. In the summer of that year, Kiyasu visited Nakazono at his studio.
“One thing I remember intensely about his story was that he was thinking of changing his name because his aunt told him to. He told me that he was using his real name 晃二(Koji) at the beginning, but decided to use 孔二(Koji) when he started his career as a painter. I think it left an impression on me because even though the letters in his name gave a different impression, he didn't seem to have any feelings toward his real name or the name he changed. He seemed to think of it as someone else's business.”
Most of Nakazono's works are Untitled, and he may have had similar ideas about his name. A name is merely a label, a convenience to one's existence. Unlike the strong impression of his works, Nakazono spoke calmly, which made Kiyasu feel the strangeness of his atmosphere, but she did not feel any discomfort between the artist and his works.
Nakazono Koji Untitled,2013,sasanao,Exhibition, Nakazono Koji Soul Mate, at the Inokuma Genichiro Museum of Contemporary Art, Marugame, 2023
He told me that he was about to become an artist that Tomio Koyama Gallery would handle. “So, I was asked not to sell my paintings without permission,” he said. She thought it was the timing for him to change himself from a student to an affiliated artist.
Kiyasu said, “I am not a good talker either, so I didn’t get the impression that we had a lively or stimulating conversation. He just told me about his past efforts and challenges politely. I did not have the proper curatorial distance from him. And I told him directly that I was attracted to his paintings as if I were just a fan.”
“I don't remember how it went exactly, but he told me to take one of his paintings if I found my favorite one. He asked me which one I liked, and I pointed out the one on the wall in his living room. He said he knew it, but was sorry to say that he could not give it to me because it was the one he painted for the CD jacket of his friend's band.”
Nakazono was a person who gave thoughtful consideration to what kind of people would have his artworks. He was once asked to paint a picture on the wall of an Italian restaurant. However, when he found out the owner had been bullying the chef, he went to that restaurant to erase the picture he had painted.
When he offered Kiyasu, who he had never met before, to take one of his artworks, he probably had a favorable impression on her. Perhaps he meant it as a return gift for contacting him and coming to see an artist who was still unknown.
When Kiyasu was told not to be able to get her favorite painting, she was led to a space crammed with other oil paintings. But she did not choose a work from among them. Kiyasu recalled and said, "Come to think of it, it was very impudent of me!" But it sounded very honest to me. Not just any picture painted by Nakazono would do.
Exhibition at Nakazono Koji Soul Mate
Less than a month later, Kiyasu was informed that another painting would be used for the CD jacket. The painting that had been displayed at his studio was sent to her. A postcard that Nakazono must have bought when he went to Finland was enclosed with the picture, along with a message.
I may need this painting out when I exhibit in the future.
Then please allow me to ask you to let the picture go from you for a while.
In the painting, which was painted shortly after he graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts, something like a curtain hung down. It could be by the window. Outside, it is a waterside like a pond or puddle, where a figure in a skirt is dancing and prancing around.
There are hands of the same color sticking out of puddles of water and only the heads above the neck rolling around. The impression of a pleasant picnic is given, despite the feeling of some frightening elements. There might be somewhere in the deep forest, an idyllic scene. However, it seems to imply that a life-and-death journey is necessary to reach that place.
I have not seen that painting yet. Kiyasu told me that she would lend it to me any time when an exhibition of Nakazono's works opened because that was the promise of Nakazono.
The Seto Inland Sea, where Nakazono passed away. He is said to have swum out to the island.
Nakazono's paintings, outside the rim, are displayed together to create a swirling energy that unifies the space. The heat of the exhibition makes you want to know more about him. At least I wanted to know. On the other hand, to spend a long time with just one painting that he drew and live with fragments of the outside rim as a part of your mind must also be a very fortunate way to deal with Nakazono.
Nakazono Koji Untitled,2009,Kanagawa MoMA Teate Mamori Nokosu, Conservation and Restoration Exhibition MoMA
One of his works from the collection is on display at the Teate Mamori Nokosu exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura Annex, located in Kamakura, a city familiar to Nakazono. His painting is set in a frame to prevent damage to the paint on the edges of the canvas when it is lent to other museums. Standing before it, I imagine Nakazono as he was in 2009 when he painted this picture. He was a sophomore at Tokyo University of the Arts. He did not know what would begin from then. And yet, the painting is full of enough anticipation to tempt me.
Toshiya Muraoka
Nonfiction writer, born in 1978, lives in Kamakura. Author of Odayaka na Ghost Gaka Nakazono Koji wo otte (Gentle Ghost In Pursuit of the Painter Nakazono Koji, Kuma wo Horu Hito(The Bear Carver,co-authored with photographer Arimoto Yayoi,Shogakukan), Shinbashi Paradise Ekimae Meibutsu Building Zannichiroku (Shinbashi Paradise: Remaining days of the famous building close to the station , Bungeishunju), etc.
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