EUGENE STUDIO / Eugene Kangawa

EUGENE STUDIO / Eugene Kangawa

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Left: Critical, 2021
Water, sand, mirrors
Right: White Painting series, 2017
Canvas, 160 × 160 cm, Private collection
Installation view: Solo exhibition EUGENE STUDIO After the rainbow
at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, November 2021–February 2022.

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Installation view: EUGENE STUDIO After the rainbow

EUGENE STUDIO After the rainbow
at Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (Nov. 2021–Feb. 2022)

An installation of an endless repetition of the horizon line of the pristine ocean/stratum. The entire process was done by hand in complete darkness, a work of a human statue that will never be seen for eternity. (Visitors could also touch this sculpture one at a time in a room of complete darkness.) A ray of golden rain. An 8-meter oil painting by brush, in which small “groups of figures” form a pale rainbow gradation.
Eugene Kangawa’s EUGENE STUDIO After the rainbow made him the youngest artist ever to have a solo exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, where only a few Japanese contemporary artists, including Yayoi Kusama and Yoko Ono, have had solo exhibitions. This epoch-making exhibition, with “the power of imagination” at its core, attracted great attention. By the end of the exhibition, visitors had to wait for two to three hours a day to see the works.

EUGENE STUDIO Studio/Atelier iii

EUGENE STUDIO Studio/Atelier iii

EUGENE STUDIO / Eugene Kangawa’s largest, self-built atelier/studio is surrounded by beautiful water and low mountains. The studio was designed by the artist himself in a woodworking warehouse where doors were once made. Almost all the doors, handles, and walls were made in the studio. In the space of approximately 700 square meters/7,500 square feet, works scheduled to be collected, works from the artist’s collection, and works that have not yet been exhibited are installed. About a 1-hour drive from central Tokyo. Reservations required.

Publish
Catalog: Eugene i, ii, iii

EUGENE STUDIO / Eugene Kangawa has published three new catalogs.
One catalog features an abundant collection of photographs from Goldrain, capturing various angles, moments, and locations. Another catalog presents Rainbow Painting in sizes close to the original. The third catalog showcases monochrome and verdant works from the Light and shadow inside me series. Each catalog includes images of the studio, as well as the surrounding landscapes... .

Light and shadow inside me, 2022
Gelatin silver print (photogram)

Light and shadow inside me

“This work, which looks like an abstract painting, is made entirely from the photographic paper itself.
In a dark room, the silver halide film is creased like folds and folded like origami to form pentagons, polygons, and other columnar shapes. In this state, it is momentarily exposed to light.
All these images were thus created only with the minimum of elements: ‘only light and the photographic paper itself.’ ‘They are not shadows or effects of something else.’ Things have light and shadow just by existing. These change in detail from time to time, and no two are the same.”

EUGENE STUDIO / Eugene Kangawa

Eugene Kangawa (寒川裕人) was born in the United States in 1989 and is currently based in Japan. Known for his conceptual and self-reductive paintings and installations, his past exhibitions include EUGENE STUDIO After the Rainbow (2021-2022) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, de-sport: (2020) at the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Shikkoku-Noh (2019) at the National Art Center, Tokyo, solo exhibition 1/2 century later. (2017) at the Shiseido Gallery, 89+ (2014) at the Serpentine Gallery, London. His studio works PlayEarthPark, a playground and park mainly for children, and his solo exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, with “The Power of Imagination” at its core, in which he was also the youngest artist ever to have a solo exhibition at the museum; both attracted great attention, with long queues forming by the end of the exhibition period.

In addition, in the past, he has participated in or was invited to participate in various research and development projects in the fields of artificial intelligence, mobility, agriculture, and biotechnology. These early activities were summarized in 2017 in the book The Age of Art × Technology (written by Daisuke Miyatsu, Kobunsha Shinsho) as one of the four leading Japanese artists along with Team Lab and others. In addition, two short films released in the United States in 2021 have been selected as official selections and won awards at more than 10 international film festivals, including the Brooklyn International Film Festival, the Houston International Film Festival, and other Academy Award® accredited festivals.

Publish

EUGENE STUDIO / Eugene Kangawa has published three new catalogs.
One catalog features an abundant collection of photographs from Goldrain, capturing various angles, moments, and locations. Another catalog presents Rainbow Painting in sizes close to the original. The third catalog showcases monochrome and verdant works from the Light and shadow inside me series. Each catalog includes images of the studio, as well as the surrounding landscapes... .

Catalog: EUGENE STUDIO After the rainbow
Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, 2021

Official catalog for the EUGENE STUDIO After the rainbow, a solo exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo. The EUGENE STUDIO by acclaimed contemporary artist Eugene Kangawa is the first Heisei-born artist to have a solo exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo. The substantial artist book further explores the depths of the multifaceted world of his genre-defying works through a conversation with biologist Shinichi Fukuoka and an essay by American art critic David Geers, who has contributed to October (journal) and Frieze (magazine).
Publisher: torch press, Hardcover book binding, 220 pages, B5 Modified / Price: $33.44 (+tax) (Sold out)

Catalog: special edition 1/2 Century later. Shiseido Gallery, 2017

In this book, THE EUGENE Studio 1/2 Century later., includes several contents as below; descriptions of White Painting Series (2017–), Beyond good and evil, make way toward the wasteland. (2017), 6 discussions/essays about this exhibition and the artist, and photography of the artworks. The pages are detachable so that to display each page.
3 parts Boxed in, 234 pages, 455 × 305 mm (Sold out)

Official booklet | by Bijutsu Techo and Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo

The EUGENE STUDIO After the rainbow guidebook is now available to amplify our understanding of this exhibition and the EUGENE STUDIO. In addition to scenes from the production site and a long interview with Eugene Kangawa, the guidebook also includes a conversation with Dai Tamesue, who discusses the similarities between art and sports from the perspective of an athlete and an artist, and a conversation with architect Tsuyoshi Tane, which was held when he presented Shikkoku-Noh (The National Art Center, Tokyo) in 2019.
Available at the museum store in the museum.
Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (supervisor), Bijutsu Techo editorial department (editor), sold out.

Installation view

Collection exhibition centered on EUGENE STUDIO
“Presence” & “Eugene Room”
at MAKI Collection / MAKI Gallery (Tokyo)

“Presence,” a large collection exhibition featuring works from the new collection of EUGENE STUDIO/Eugene Kangawa, is being held at MAKI Gallery / MAKI Collection in Tennozu, Tokyo. Also on view is the “Eugene Room,” open by appointment only, until the end of 2022.
Lee Kit, EUGENE STUDIO / Eugene Kangawa, Augusta Wood, Lawrence Carroll, Matti Brown, Luigi Ghirri, and others.

White Painting series, 2017–

White Painting series, 2017–
Canvas

White Painting is only the collective name for the series, as each piece is titled with the names of the people who kissed the canvases—for instance, the names of about a hundred people.
There are 2 series of this work; one was done by calling out to people on the street in cities around the world (USA, Mexico, Italy, Taiwan...) and the other within a specific community unit such as “a certain family”.

For a certain family series (2017–)
The small For a certain family series (33.3 × 33.3 cm), works done within the community unit of a specific family, began with the creation of a piece for the family of a friend of his.
Portraits on consciousness, timeless portrait-like works are now in possession of more than one family.

The title of the work will officially be “a series of names of all the family members”. For example, “Anna, Ryo, Erika”.
And if there are more family members—for example, they have children—the title of the work would also change. There is flexibility in the concept of family.
This is the smallest form of commission work, but it is also a commission work that lasts forever.

“— THE EUGENE Studio’s White Painting series […] transforming the canvases into nomadic shrines to love and memory… White Painting series returns the monochrome to its iconic if uncertain place between a portal and a thing.”


From “Passion in Monochrome” (2018)
by David Gears, an art critic who contributes his writing to October magazine and other publications.
Read full story

、2021
Water, sand, mirrors
Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo

海庭, 2021
Water, sand, mirrors

The huge space is surrounded by mirrors on all sides, reflecting the waves of water, creating an endless horizon.
The natural light from the 19-meter-high ceiling changes the appearance of the space dramatically depending on the weather and time of day.

“— If the sea level were to rise, this would be the first place to sink beneath the waves.
I decided to bring the sea into this hall.
The real sea, water, needless to say, tsunamis, and sea level are a particularly important entity, especially for us.”

, 2021
Water, sand, mirrors
Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo

Image/Imagine #1 man, 2021
Statue

“Sculptural work seen by reservation only. This sculpture of a ‘person’ created by hand is a sculptural work that was created ‘in a state of complete darkness, where the statue is not visible at all during the entire process,’ and ‘neither the artist himself nor anyone else’ has ever seen it. Meaning, it is a sculptural work that ‘no one in this world has ever seen before’.
One by one, in a room of total darkness, each visitor was able to touch the actual statue. The substantial sculptural work accompanied by the intense experience attracted a great deal of attention, with reservations required and queues sometimes forming even before opening time. (The installation also took place in the dark. In other words, it is ‘a statue that no one has seen, nor will be able to see.’ No one involved in the museum was informed of the size or materials used. The title of the work in Japanese is ‘Souzou [which means imagine/Imagination]’ [in Japanese Kanji it means ‘[in your head] think of the statue’]).”

Rainbow Painting series
Group portrait (Surrounded surging crowd of people), 2021
Oil on canvas
292 × 788 cm
Private collection
Rainbow Painting series
Left: Group portrait (Hitonoyo), 2021 / Oil on canvas, 291.5 × 212 cm, Private collection
Center: Group portrait (Where are you?), 2021 / Oil on canvas, 294 × 214 cm
Right: Group portrait (Rainbow), 2021 / Oil on canvas, 244 × 184 cm, Private collection
Rainbow Painting series
Group portrait (Hitonoyo), 2021
Oil on canvas
291.5 × 212 cm
Private collection

Rainbow Painting series, 2021
Oil on canvas

In the oil painting, with its gradation of pale rainbow colors, upon closer inspection, one can see that countless human figures have been painted by brush, with the layers creating a complex gradation.
The shapes and colors are slightly different from one another. This is a “group portrait”.
The visitor passes through the sea into a brightly lit room surrounded by several of these paintings, each 3m high and up to 8m wide. All of the rainbow paintings on display will be transported to various locations, and the “group portraits” will continue to live on in yet another place.

“— Group Portraits
I thought to myself, we don’t need individual portraits right now, we need portraits of people—groups of people.

If you look closer, the people and the shadows they cast are each slightly different from the next. They appear to be countless groups, jostling and separated yet side by side. This place might be a continent or a country; it might be a virtual network. In any case, it is beautiful.”

Eugene Kangawa
(From the interview: Solo exhibition EUGENE STUDIO After the rainbow at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, 2021-2022)

Group portrait (Mixed grey) #2, 2021
Oil on canvas
116.7 × 116.7 cm
Right: Group portrait (Surrounded surging crowd of people), 2021
Oil on canvas, 292 × 788 cm, Private collection
Center: Group portrait (Mixed grey) #2, 2021
Oil on canvas, 116.7 × 116.7 cm, Private collection
Left: 03.03-04.06 in my house, in Tokyo, 2021
Aqueous dye on paper, 106.9 × 155.5 cm, Private collection
Light and shadow inside me, 2021
Installation view: Solo exhibition EUGENE STUDIO After the rainbow
at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo
Light and shadow inside me
07.21-08.23 in my house, in Tokyo, 2021
Aqueous dye on paper
107.6 × 155.7 cm
Private collection

“Painting by fading”
Light and shadow inside me, 2021
Aqueous dye on paper

A sheet of ink-coated paper is folded like origami and exposed to the sun for several weeks. The pattern was solely created “by the shadow of the picture”. It was created by the “principle of fading.” This work is both a painting and a photograph in the sense that it is subjected to the sun. It is characterized by the reductive nature of the “light and shadow of the painting itself.”

“— People and things ‘just by existing’ have both light and shadow.”

Model (production process)
Light and shadow inside me (untitled) #30,2023
Gelatin silver print (photogram)
300 × 202 cm
Light and shadow inside me (untitled) #30, 2023
Gelatin silver print (photogram)
300 × 202 cm

Light and shadow inside me, 2022–
Gelatin silver print (photogram)

This work, which looks like an abstract painting, is made entirely from the photographic paper itself.
In a dark room, the silver halide film is creased like folds and folded like origami to form pentagons, polygons, and other columnar shapes. In this state, it is momentarily exposed to light.
All these images were thus created only with the minimum of elements: “only light and the photographic paper itself.” “They are not shadows or effects of something else.” Things have light and shadow just by existing. These change in detail from time to time, and no two are the same.

Model (production process)
Goldrain, 2019
Particles
Goldrain, 2019
Particles
Goldrain, 2019
Particle
Dimensions variable
Beyond good and evil, make way toward the wasteland., 2017
Ceramic, steel, wood, glass, ash, others
240 × 873 × 300 cm
Private collection
Beyond good and evil, make way toward the wasteland., 2017
Ceramic, steel, wood, glass, ash, others
240 × 873 × 300 cm
Everything reflects the shining light toward me
Magic hour (evening, forest drawing)
, 2021
Oil on brass
26.4 × 35.3 cm

Everything reflects the shining light toward me, 2021
Oil on brass / Oil, wax oil pastel on brass / Oil, gouache, grease pencil on brass / Brass, wood

This series of drawings is a rather special kind of “sketch diary” by Eugene Kangawa. Sometimes he directly sketches “landscapes/objects reflected in mirrors or brass metal,” and sometimes he enlarges the sketches and drawings based on them. It begins with the act of drawing what is reflected outside or inside from different angles.

Reflections cause light to appear from behind the paint, the ground and figure are frequently inverted, and the focus is never fixed.

Drum: Mr. Tagi’s room and dream #four-handed, 2014 / Everything reflects the shining light toward me, 2021
Installation view: Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo

Mr. Tagi’s room and dream #four-handed, 2014
Steel, wood, oil / wood, brass, glass, artificial leather, plaster

Twin Drums was one of Eugene Kangawa’s graduation projects in 2014, a “Research project into the history of sports by a fictional sports scientist.” At the time, the installation consisted of a number of objects, images, and fictional sports workshop devices related to sports, such as chance, probability, the origin of time, domain, dialogue, exchange, and community. This drum set is one of them, recreating the conditions after the workshop was done.

(*The 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa hosted an exhibition in 2020 titled Desport, in which the title of the exhibition was Eugene’s graduation works (2013–2014).)
Detail

Staff diary via Instagram

Staff diary via Instagram | Artist manager | Working at EUGENE STUDIO
Posting Diary & Information, great life.

Playset & Park “PLAY EARTH PARK” (Collaborated 5 architects, 2022)

Playset & Park
“PLAY EARTH PARK” (2022. Apr-May, Jul-Aug)

EUGENE STUDIO considers “playground equipment” as a type of public sculpture, and designed the overall concept for PLAY EARTH PARK, a park for children who will build the future, in Tokyo and Toyama. New playground equipment that fosters imagination was designed by five architects.

Exhibition teaser by Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo
Studio Visit with Artist Eugene Kangawa (Youtube, 4min)
Agricultural Revolution 3.0, 2016
Mixed media
Installation view
Mr. Tagi’s room and dream, 2014
Mixed media
Installation, Performance
Installation view: 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, 2020

21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art Kanazawa
[de-sport: The Deconstruction and Reconstruction of Sports through Art]

Group show | 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa.
The exhibition title was inspired by Eugene Kangawa’s graduation project “supervision / Desport.”
Artists: Christian JANKOWSKI / Allora & Calzadilla / THE EUGENE Studio / Gabriel OROZCO / Liam GILLICK / Charles FRÉGER / Erwin WURM / Xijing Men / YANAI Shino

Mr. Tagi's room and dream, 2014
Mixed media
Installation, Performance
Mr. Tagi's room and dream, 2014
Mixed media
Installation, Performance
Top: Purple, Green, Blue, 2021
US, short film, 15mins 25sec.
Bottom: SANSUI LLAFRETAW, 2021
Japan, black-and-white film, 8mins 57sec.

EUGENE STUDIO / Eugene Kangawa