Katsumi Nakai, a Japanese artist who relocated to Milan in 1964, is currently being featured in his first U.S. solo exhibition at Polina Berlin Gallery in Manhattan through August 8, with further viewings available by appointment. Initially intending a brief trip, Nakai was captivated by Milan’s blend of classical art and avant-garde movements, prompting him to settle there for three decades. During this time, he became associated with progressive artists such as Enrico Baj, Edmondo Bacci, and Lucio Fontana, whose Spatialism challenged traditional painting as a static surface.

Nakai’s innovative approach involved transforming paintings from fixed two-dimensional works into dynamic, interactive objects. By cutting and assembling wooden panels with notches, keyholes, and apertures, his hinged paintings unfold and extend into space, engaging viewers in a tactile experience. These “l’oggetto si sboccia” (“the object is unfolding”) works can appear as tidy monochromatic squares when folded but reveal intricate, unruly forms when opened. Pieces like “L’oggetto si sboccia 44-146” (1972) and “Hiraku 54 Osaka” (1981) layer bodily references through folds and flaps in muted, fleshy tones. Nakai’s work synthesizes Western avant-garde methods with Japanese traditions such as origami, kiri-e (paper cutting), and the aesthetic of butsudan (domestic shrines).

Meanwhile, a group exhibition at Gladstone Gallery on West 24th Street in Manhattan, running through August 7, presents a somber exploration of art’s psychological and emotional impact. Curated by Alissa Bennett and Julian Ehrlich, the show draws inspiration from literary narratives in which obsessive or destructive relationships with art lead to ruin. The exhibition features a collection of works by notable misfits and experimental artists, including Weegee, Joseph Yaeger, Lee Friedlander, Alex Katz, Tamo Jugeli, and Mark Leckey. The atmosphere is intentionally introspective and unsettling, with images ranging from shadowy portraits and disembodied eyes to abstract, visceral forms evoking bodily horror.

In a separate exhibition at Rodder gallery through August 12, New York artist Wyatt Kahn offers a 15-year retrospective of works on paper that blur boundaries between painting, sculpture, and collage. Known for his large-scale sliced wood panels that combine geometric fragmentation and monochromatic palettes, Kahn’s ongoing experiments explore depth and flatness without traditional paint application. The show includes gouaches, cartoons, sketches, woodcuts, and mixed-media pieces incorporating correction fluid, tape, and paper pulp. This varied body of work reveals Kahn’s process of trial, error, and innovation, providing insight into his conceptual development and sculptural sensibility.

Together, these exhibitions in Manhattan showcase a diverse range of experimental and avant-garde practices, emphasizing artists’ efforts to expand the limits of painting and to engage with the medium both materially and conceptually.