SHUNSUKE FRANÇOIS NANJO

Born in 1981 in Tokyo, Shunsuke François Nanjo works between France and Japan. He has a Master Degree in Fine Art from the University Toulouse le Mirail, France.

Shunsuke François Nanjo’s core inspiration and works relate to the concept of Heterotopia as explored by Michel Foucault in Of Other Spaces (1967) .

According to Foucault, Utopia is a place separate from reality and time as we know it, existing only in our imagination. It has its own logic of functioning, and does not expose the world we are living in. On the contrary, Heterotopia, while also in charge of its own logic and time, can be located in our daily life. Theaters, cemeteries or airports are all examples we might find in our reality, a space located within the space. In addition to exploring and exposing these heterotopias, the artist’s work aims to reveal the traces of memory our lives leave imprinted in this world. These traces haunt our life and might stick to our surroundings only to reemerge in new forms. Francois’ recent work often extracts these haunting pasts of spaces or things. By observing the traces of these memories, he can find a departure point to new personal myths.