In his paintings Nagano embraces human vulnerability through a prism of glorified male bodies. His classically inspired figurative compositions are wrapped in folds of draperies or stand in the shadows of architectural confinement, their physical strength and masculine beauty often hint at an emotional vulnerability and sense of danger. There is no superficiality in Shozo’s art, only the dynamics of love, despair and transfiguration.

A perfectionist at heart, every element of Shozo’s paintings is attentively contemplated, giving an impression of perfectly balanced compositions and, according to David L. Shirley, art reviewer for the New York Times, Shozo Nagano’s works ‘never appear lifeless, but are given an inherent power and dynamism that cannot fail to move the viewer.’