[Exhibition Review] Nie Jingwei 'Man: Seahorse' (2026.3.25-2026.3.30 | GALLERY 2511)

The photo exhibition 'Man: Seahorse' by Nie Jingwei, winner of the 2025 Tokyo Visual Arts Photography Department Graduation Project Grand Prix, begins with a statue of a muscular man dyed in purple. The title character 'Man' (Kanji: 漢) carries nuances of strength, spirit, and grit, evoking traditional masculinity. This single kanji is given the reading 'Seahorse' (Tatsunootoshigo).

Generally, masculinity has been discussed in connection with fighting, competition, and suppressing emotions to gain an advantage. On the other hand, the seahorse is rare among living creatures in that the male receives the eggs, raises them, and carries them until birth. There, strength is found not in domination, but in nurturing and protecting. The photographs displayed on the walls and floor also visually presented the question: 'What is masculinity?' The male subjects do not flaunt their strength, but instead carry an air of instability and ambiguity. It was striking that photographs of hands were repeatedly inserted. While hands grasp and support things, they are also terribly defenseless. Looking at their forms, both strength and fragility emerge simultaneously.

Currently, 'being a man' is no longer as self-evident as it once was. The seahorse-like way of being seems to be somewhat continuous with the sensibilities of the generation living today. Rather than loudly asserting the difficulties of being a man or gender issues, this exhibition skillfully presented a contemporary sense of discomfort through photography. The striking photo used for the DM, showing a man holding a pink cushion, was not on display. When asked why, the artist replied, 'I didn't display it because I used it for the DM,' and that kind of freshness felt like part of the artist's charm.

Reviewer: Jinichi Murakami

Nie Jingwei 'Man: Seahorse'
Dates: March 25 (Wed) – March 30 (Mon), 2026
Venue: GALLERY 2511
Related link: https://gallery.2511.jp/exh/tatsunootoshigo/

[Information on the latest issue] Sha Shin Magazine vol.8

The latest issue of Sha Shin Magazine, vol.8, will be released on January 20, 2026.

To order Sha Shin Magazine vol.8, clickhere
To order back issues, clickhere
For an overview of this note and the profiles of the writers, please see the page below