Nelson Hor, A Mere Reflection of Flower and Moon

Dates: 2025. 12. 6 (Sat) – 12.27 (Sat)  * Opening Reception: 12.5 (Fri)  5pm
Venue:  √K Contemporary
Opening Hours：1pm – 7pm
Closed : Sundays and Mondays

From December 6 (Sat) to December 27 (Sat), 2025, √K Contemporary is pleased to present A Mere Reflection of Flower and Moon, a solo exhibition by Malaysian-born artist Nelson Hor (1998–).

After studying Nihonga (Japanese painting) at Tama Art University, Hor has developed a poetic and delicate visual language while freely moving across diverse materials, such as mineral pigments, ceramics, photography and installation. His practice engages deeply with fundamental issues in our current society, including LGBTQ communities and mental illness.

“As a gay person who was raised in Malaysia where Islamic values are strongly embedded, beauty became a substitute for my religion.”

As this statement suggests, the exhibition explores how “beauty” can serve as a spiritual anchor for LGBTQ individuals growing up in oppressive religious settings. It is an attempt to take a glimpse into the internal world and queer aesthetics from the artist’s unique perspective.

Alongside Hor’s new paintings, sculptural works and installations, the exhibition features furniture by designers such as Isamu Noguchi, Tadaomi Mizunoe and Sori Yanagi, who introduced a new sense of aesthetics to postwar Japan. By integrating these simple yet highly functional design objects that accompany our everyday life, Hor’s works transform the gallery space into a queer sanctuary. Here, beauty emerges not as a luxury but as a vital tool for spiritual survival for queer people navigating harsh realities.

The artist’s gaze resonates beyond questions of sexuality or background, reaching the hearts of all who live through the cruelties of the contemporary world.

During the exhibition, √K Contemporary will also host a gallery talk with Junya Utsumi, curator at the Artizon Museum, Ishibashi Foundation, as well as a Drag Queen performance by Andromeda and Nixie Humidity.

■  Artist Statement

The title “A Mere Reflection of Flower and Moon” is from a Chinese idiom, “mirror flower, water moon (鏡花水月)”, which means beautiful things are often ephemeral and unattainable. The solo exhibition will be about my own interpretation on Whitney Davisʼs “Queer Beauty”.

Growing up in an Islamic country as a gay person, for me, beauty is my substitute for religion.

In the book, Davis mentioned the queer aesthetic is more than just the expression of desires but also a way to break free from the oppression. I believe queer individuals often find sanctuary in beautiful things because we feel betrayed by the religions we grew up in. Beauty can become a form of spiritual survival. Queer creativity often stems from having to reimagine the world from scratch and to find beauty where there was once pain. That shapes taste in ways that are nuanced, layered and often radical.

This exhibition will feature a series of my new artworks alongside furniture designed by Japanese post-war designers, including Isamu Noguchi, Tadaomi Mizunoe and Sori Yanagi. A central theme in post-war furniture design is the removal of elaborate decoration, focusing instead on simplicity and functionality. This approach has introduced a new understanding of beauty for future generations.

I plan to transform the gallery into a small shrine filled with queer memories and rituals. By combining these design objects, the space will allow the viewers to sit, pause and contemplate beauty not as luxury, but as necessity, much like how queer people reshape the concept of beauty.

I aim to let the tenderness of the artwork inhabit the space because beauty is not a revenge on the cruel reality but merely a reflection of the flower and moon.

Nelson Hor

■  Events

Durint the exhibition, we will host several queer-themed events, including a gallery talk that explores queer art in depth and performances that embody queer beauty, both of which echo around the central theme of the show.

For inquiries or to register for the events, please contact us at info@root-k.jp

————-

[Event #1 ]  Gallery Talk: “Nelson Hor × Junya Utsumi
Date & Time: Saturday, December 6, 6:00 PM–

A gallery talk will be held at 6:00 PM on opening day, December 6, featuring Junya Utsumi, Curator at Artizon Museum, the Ishibashi Foundation.

▶ Guest 

Junya Utsumi
Born in Tokyo in 1990. Completed the Global Arts Curatorial Practices Program at the Graduate School of Global Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts. Following his work as a curator at the Koganecho Area Management Center, he is currently a curator at Artizon Museum, the Ishibashi Foundation. With a strong interest in gender, he conducts research on contemporary art in Japan and Southeast Asia while engaging in exhibition planning and writing.

Major exhibitions he has curated include:
Jam Session: The Ishibashi Foundation Collection × YAMASHIRO Chikako × SHIGA Lieko In the midst of (2025–2026, Artizon Museum, Tokyo)
Jam Session: The Ishibashi Foundation Collection × MOHRI Yuko On Physis (2024–2025, Artizon Museum, Tokyo)
Japan Pavilion Exhibition in Tokyo —From the 59th International Art Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia　Dumb Type, 2022: remap (2023, Artizon Museum, Tokyo)

He was also responsible for the planning and production of Rachel Whiteread’s outdoor sculpture Artizon Conversations, installed in July 2025 at the Artizon Museum.

————-

[Event #2]「Drag Queen Performance」by Nixie Humidity and Andromeda
Date & Time：　Saturday, December 13, 4pm

The second event will feature a drag queen performance by Nixie Humidity and Andromeda.
We are pleased to invite two queens to perform in the exhibition space by unfolding their own interpretations of queer sanctuary through the powerful expression of drag.

“Every religion has its rituals; if queerness were a religion, the dance of drag queens would be its sacred performance.”  – Nelson Hor

▶　Guest

Andromeda
Drag/performance based in Tokyo since 2019. Interested in exploring sexuality and gender through their creative expression. They have been performing in galleries throughout Tokyo like Gallery -1, and art spaces like BuoY in Kitasenju. As part of IWAKAN Magazine and Moto IWAKAN, they also curate and spread queer culture in Japanese. Through drag, they’ve become a staple of Shinjuku 2-chome at clubs like Kingdom, Arch, Eagle Blue and even at Soho House events for TOMO KOIZUMI. Instagram : @luna.andromeda.jp