YELLOW FEVER Tropical evokes, in its title, the idea of a tropical illness, yet it primarily immerses the viewer in the intimate delirium of the queer, Asian artist. In this trance-like state, hybrid figures and plants appear, fluid and mutable, reflecting his polymorphic nature.

Using a photograph from his performance archives, Nagabe transforms himself into a half-fish figure, a symbol of metamorphosis and tropical escape. The imagery draws on the paintings of Daikoku and Ebisu that adorned his childhood home in Brazil, invoking luck and prosperity. According to legend, Ebisu, a Japanese deity, was born without bones and abandoned to the sea, yet survived to become the joyful god he is today.

The work creates a fluid, imaginary world where body, color, and vegetation intertwine, expressing desire, fragility, and strength. It celebrates queer imagination, inner freedom, and the pleasure of escaping into one’s own sensual, imaginative universe.