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Kosuke Kawamura “Try Something Better”
Gallery Common
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Artists
Kosuke Kawamura
Gallery Common is pleased to announce the relocation and opening of our gallery in Jingumae, Shibuya, Tokyo, in November 2021. Our first exhibition will be “Try Something Better”, a solo exhibition by Japanese artist Kosuke Kawamura, from November 20 (Sat) to December 19 (Sun), 2021. The show will feature Kawamura’s signature “shredder collage” style reimagined in a new series of black and silver collages, as well as a series of large multi-canvas works. This will be the largest number of “shredder collage” works ever exhibited by the artist.
Born in 1979 in Hiroshima, Kawamura moved to Tokyo after graduating high school and immediately became involved in the city’s creative community. Initially a graphic designer, Kawamura became active as an exhibiting artist in the early 2000s, holding shows throughout Japan and overseas in conjunction with his collaborative and design work. Since then, his distinctive collage-based style has become well-known both within the Harajuku scene and abroad thanks to his prolific collaborations with Adidas, G-shock, Uniqlo, Gundam, Evangelion, AKIRA, and more.
Blurring the border between art, graphic design, and fashion, Kawamura weaves between categories seamlessly, eschewing defined labels to immerse his practice within the fast-paced culture of the city. The artist’s “live interpretation” of the media around him is the central component of his collage works. Though he initially started making collages with Photoshop and Illustrator, he now often uses “magazines that he finds lying around randomly,” purposefully avoiding famous photos and acclaimed sources for travel brochures, adult magazines, and other analog media with little to no artistic value that he encounters naturally in daily life. As Kawamura says, “I want to create a new sense of value by choosing materials that are generally overlooked and have no artistic value and shine a light on them. In addition, I value a sense of live performance. It’s something I learned from the music and culture (70s~90s punk rock, hip-hop, skate culture, etc.) that has influenced me and shaped who I am today.” This style of his, which can be likened to visual alchemy, has attracted a great deal of attention both in Japan and abroad in recent years as he continues to discover his own potential.
The artworks featured in this exhibition were created largely through manual, hands-on methods such as cutting, shredding, and pasting to emphasize the three-dimensionality and uniqueness of the works, a purposeful contrast to the digital reproducibility he emphasizes in his collaboration or commission works. The analog methods give the works a sculptural aspect, inviting the viewer to become aware of the physicality of the work and the exhibition space.
The constantly evolving nature of Kawamura’s artistic process aligns with the cyclical nature of fashion and graphic design, which remain the roots of his inspiration; however, Kawamura’s ability to maintain his identity and relevance throughout these fluctuations is evidence of his strength not just as a designer and collaborator but as an artist. Flexibly traversing between the past and present, analog and digital, Kawamura’s works emphasize his sense of “live performance” that mirrors the ever-evolving culture of Harajuku.
Born in 1979 in Hiroshima, Kawamura moved to Tokyo after graduating high school and immediately became involved in the city’s creative community. Initially a graphic designer, Kawamura became active as an exhibiting artist in the early 2000s, holding shows throughout Japan and overseas in conjunction with his collaborative and design work. Since then, his distinctive collage-based style has become well-known both within the Harajuku scene and abroad thanks to his prolific collaborations with Adidas, G-shock, Uniqlo, Gundam, Evangelion, AKIRA, and more.
Blurring the border between art, graphic design, and fashion, Kawamura weaves between categories seamlessly, eschewing defined labels to immerse his practice within the fast-paced culture of the city. The artist’s “live interpretation” of the media around him is the central component of his collage works. Though he initially started making collages with Photoshop and Illustrator, he now often uses “magazines that he finds lying around randomly,” purposefully avoiding famous photos and acclaimed sources for travel brochures, adult magazines, and other analog media with little to no artistic value that he encounters naturally in daily life. As Kawamura says, “I want to create a new sense of value by choosing materials that are generally overlooked and have no artistic value and shine a light on them. In addition, I value a sense of live performance. It’s something I learned from the music and culture (70s~90s punk rock, hip-hop, skate culture, etc.) that has influenced me and shaped who I am today.” This style of his, which can be likened to visual alchemy, has attracted a great deal of attention both in Japan and abroad in recent years as he continues to discover his own potential.
The artworks featured in this exhibition were created largely through manual, hands-on methods such as cutting, shredding, and pasting to emphasize the three-dimensionality and uniqueness of the works, a purposeful contrast to the digital reproducibility he emphasizes in his collaboration or commission works. The analog methods give the works a sculptural aspect, inviting the viewer to become aware of the physicality of the work and the exhibition space.
The constantly evolving nature of Kawamura’s artistic process aligns with the cyclical nature of fashion and graphic design, which remain the roots of his inspiration; however, Kawamura’s ability to maintain his identity and relevance throughout these fluctuations is evidence of his strength not just as a designer and collaborator but as an artist. Flexibly traversing between the past and present, analog and digital, Kawamura’s works emphasize his sense of “live performance” that mirrors the ever-evolving culture of Harajuku.
Schedule | Nov 20 (Sat) 2021-Dec 19 (Sun) 2021 Opening Hours Information
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| Fee | Free | ||||||
| Venue | Gallery Common http://www.gallerycommon.com/  | ||||||
| Location | B1F, 5-39-6 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0001 | ||||||
| Access | 6 minute walk from exit A1 at Omotesando Station on the Hanzomon, Chiyoda and Ginza lines. 8 minute walk from exit 7 at Meiji-jingumae Station on the Chiyoda and Fukutoshin lines. 9 minute walk from exit B7 at JR Shibuya Station. | ||||||
| Phone | 03-6427-3827 | ||||||
| Related images | Click on the image to enlarge it |
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