Tadayoshi Nakabayashi: Transposition is internationally renowned Japanese print artist Tadayoshi Nakabayashi’s first exhibition in Hong Kong, showcasing his Transposition — Ground series of copper plate etchings. Nakabayashi takes inspiration from earth’s vegetation as it transforms throughout the seasons to express the central theme of ‘nothing can escape from decay’, a verse taken from the works of Japanese poet Mitsuharu Kaneko (1895–1975). When we first saw his works up close, we were deeply moved by the tender, meticulous and sharply contrasted etched markings on the gampi paper. Nakabayashi’s aestheticism is fully visible in the composition of each work.

The blacks and whites represent light and shadow in his etchings. For the main visual identity, we used the tension and harmony between black and white, as well as the empty space between the artworks and texts to express the exhibition’s theme. We did not want to overdesign the exhibition catalogue, intending for the medium to become one with the artworks. To create a coherent visual experience from the exhibition space to its collaterals, no text and indentation were added to the spine of the catalogue. The black-and-white body and spine of the catalogue corresponds to the exhibition’s main visual identity, with the front and back covers opening to reveal Nakabayashi's Transposition ’95 — Ground V (1995).