Erico Nagai

Bio

Erico Nagai was born in Tokyo and came to Munich in 1968 to study at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts. It was here that she met the eminent gold and silversmith Franz Rickert, whose class she joined in 1970. Rickerts was followed in 1972 by Hermann Jünger, who accompanied Erico Nagai through her further studies. Erico Nagai has received a great number of prizes. She has been awarded a scholarship by the city of Munich, the Bavarian State Prize at the Munich International Skilled Trades Fair, and has twice been awarded the Herbert Hofmann prize. In 2005, Erico Nagai was awarded the Munich Design Prize. She has a very prominent position in the world of international jewellery and, in addition to her many exhibitions, has taught at the International Summer Academy in Salzburg. Since 1994, she has been one of the most distinguished lecturers at the Academy for Design in Munich and the Upper Bavarian Chamber of Skilled Trade, where she designs and holds workshops for goldsmiths. Her talent for teaching, her artistic creativity and her technical assuredness and perfection provide her students with inspiration and challenge in equal measure.

Statement

Her works are characterised by reduced geometry, inspiration from nature and a masterful combination of materials such as gold, silver, copper, in techniques with urushi lacquer, enamel. For Nagai, jewellery is never isolated – her stagings, such as the legendary installation at the Lenbachhaus in 1979, turned presentation itself into an artistic statement and opened up a dialogue between cultures. Nagai experimented with classical and Japanese goldsmithing techniques, transferred painterly principles to metal and created objects of timeless elegance. Her work is thus a significant contribution to the jewellery design of the 20. and 21st century that wants to be seen, admired and worn.