Michael Werner Gallery, London is pleased to present Maki Na Kamura: Desert incognito, an exhibition of new paintings by Osaka-born, Berlin-based painter Maki Na Kamura.

In her new work, Na Kamura questions how the concept of abstraction evolved over time. According to Na Kamura, painters historically did not categorise themselves as abstract or figurative, and painting seamlessly blended elements of both. In the 1950s and 1960s, a division arose between figurative and abstract painters, with abstractionists feeling the need to define themselves. Like the abstract artists of the mid-20th century, Na Kamura is a formalist, deeply concerned with composition, structure, texture, shape, form, and colour. However, her approach to abstraction is not dogmatic. Her primary goal is to transcend abstraction, which she does by using figuration as the basis for her exploration of the formal properties of painting. Figures serve as compositional elements, creating structure and adding rhythm.

Na Kamura also asks: what is fashionable in art today, and what is traditional? Finding the current art world to be dominated by political and ideological art, Na Kamura views painters, such as herself, who are concerned first and foremost with paint on canvas, as avant-garde. In this new exhibition, the artist challenges and expands our understanding of what abstract art can be in the 21st century.

Maki Na Kamura: Desert incognito opens to the public on Friday 16 May with a private view on Thursday 15 May from 6-8pm. The exhibition will remain on view through Saturday 12 July. A full-colour catalogue with text by Dr. Flavia Frigeri, Curatorial and Collections Director at the National Portrait Gallery in London, and the poem Desert Incognito by Maki Na Kamura, will accompany the exhibition.