Tokyo Gendai 2026: Booth H18, Hana Sector

10 - 13 September 2026

  • JD Malat Gallery is pleased to present works by Masayoshi Nojo and Santiago Parra at Tokyo Gendai 2026 (Booth H18, Hana Sector), bringing together two distinct approaches to painting, rooted in material, gesture, and focus. While their practices emerge from different cultural and artistic traditions, both artists place the act of making at the centre of their approach, translating movement and process into distinct visual languages.

  • MASAYOSHI NOJO, Untitled,, 2025, Cotton on panel, acrylic, silver foil,, aluminum foil, 43 1/4 x 31 1/2 in, 110 x 80 cm (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    MASAYOSHI NOJO, Mirage #133,, 2026, Cotton on panel, acrylic, silver foil,, aluminum foil, 67 x 59 in, 170 x 150 cm (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    SANTIAGO PARRA, Untitled, 2026, Acrylic on Canvas, 66 1/2 x 45 5/8 in, 169 x 116 cm (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).

    MASAYOSHI NOJO, Untitled,, 2025, Cotton on panel, acrylic, silver foil,, aluminum foil, 43 1/4 x 31 1/2 in, 110 x 80 cm

  • Reinterpreting Japanese tradition

    MASAYOSHI NOJO, Mirage #132,, 2026, Cotton on panel, acrylic, silver foil,, aluminum foil, 67 x 59 in, 170 x 150 cm

    Reinterpreting Japanese tradition

    Drawing on the legacy of Ogata Kōrin and the Rinpa school, Masayoshi Nojo reinterprets traditional Japanese techniques through a contemporary lens. Layering marbled acrylic surfaces with silver and aluminium foil through the meticulous process of silk-screen printing, Nojo creates imagery that shifts with light and movement, evoking stillness and contemplation while exploring the transience of memory.

  • Spontaneity and Restraint

    SANTIAGO PARRA, Untitled, 2026, Acrylic on Canvas, 66 1/2 x 45 5/8 in, 169 x 116 cm

    Spontaneity and Restraint

    Santiago Parra approaches painting through the immediacy of gesture. Working primarily with black acrylic on raw canvas, Parra creates expansive and liberated calligraphic forms through rapid, instinctual movements, allowing the physical action of painting to remain visible in the finished work. His paintings balance spontaneity and restraint, leaving expressive forms that remain unadjusted and unaltered.

  • Ancient Tradition, Contemporary Approach

    MASAYOSHI NOJO, Mirage #133, 2026, Cotton on panel, acrylic, silver foil,, aluminum foil, 67 x 59 in, 170 x 150 cm

    Ancient Tradition, Contemporary Approach

    The dual-artist presentation also pays homage to Japan’s esteemed artistic roots. Nojo captures the millennia-old, pristine forest landscapes of his homeland in detailed and immersive paintings, while drawing from the visual language and material traditions of Japanese art. Parra’s gestural practice, meanwhile, nods to the meditative methods of ancient Japanese calligraphy, where the movement of the brush and ink is guided by a focused state of mind, balancing precision with instinct. Presented together, Nojo and Parra offer contrasting approaches to the painted surface. Nojo’s layered, reflective works unfold gradually as the viewer moves before them, while Parra’s paintings preserve the intensity of a single physical gesture.

  • Masayoshi Nojo (b. 1989, Japan)

    Masayoshi Nojo (b. 1989, Japan)

    completed his MA in Japanese Painting in 2015 at Kyoto University of Art and Design. Through unique and complex techniques, he merges contemporary image-making with traditional Japanese aesthetics, drawing from the legacy of Ogata Kōrin and the Rinpa school. Deeply influenced by Japan’s landscapes and natural phenomena, Nojo’s work explores memory and the passage

    of time.

  • Santiago Parra (b. 1986, Colombia)

    Santiago Parra (b. 1986, Colombia)

    is known for his large-scale, abstract and highly expressive monochromatic paintings. His canvases explore the expressive potential of pure abstraction, creating bold, sculptural brushstrokes that blend the dynamic energy of action painting with the thoughtful precision of automatism. He studied Literature at Universidad Nacional de Colombia, followed by art education at Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá and later at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, where he also studied Motion Pictures and Television.