LIGHT AND SHADOW: An exhibition hosted by A-Poc Able Issey Miyake, featuring a series of photograms by contemporary artist Eugene Kangawa, plus new textiles inspired by them, will take place during Art Basel Paris, running Oct. 24 to 26.
The project was inspired by Kangawa’s series “Light and shadow inside me (2022–).” It will be shown at the Lycée Turgot Paris, at 40 Rue Volta, in the city’s third district.
Kangawa has collaborated creatively with A-Poc Able designer Yoshiyuki Miyamae and his team for three years.
The exhibition, which is being conceived by architect Tsuyoshi Tane, will shine a light on the new textile spawned from the collaboration, as well as test pieces, artwork and creative tools. Kangawa and Miyamae will give guided tours, and there will be hands-on workshops.
“Issey Miyake’s human-centered philosophy resonates deeply with my work, particularly in exploring themes of existence,” said Kangawa in a statement. He explained “Light and shadow inside me (2022–)” started as a series of green paintings and sunlight, using fading as a medium. It “later evolved into a monochrome photogram using only paper and light,” continued Kangawa.
New textile by A-Poc Able Issey Miyake inspired by Eugene Kangawa’s art.
Courtesy
The two-dimensional works and process used to create them influenced the A-Poc Able team to develop a “bit-level” textile.
“For this project, we were inspired by Mr. Kangawa’s aesthetic philosophy, which derives rich expression from the fundamental elements of light and shadow, offering us a new perspective in our creative practice,” said Miyamae. “We returned to the smallest unit of fabric: a single thread. Using only black and white threads, we explored light and shadow through variations in weave patterns and density, translating the phenomena of photographic paper and light into the language of cloth.”
Following Paris, the exhibition will travel to Tokyo and Osaka. Then it is to be showcased permanently, starting in 2026, in the Eugene Museum in Bali.
A-Poc, which started with “a piece of cloth,” was first presented in 1998 and is considered as Issey Miyake’s universal concept of examining all elements of clothes-making, starting with a single thread.