KOHEI NAWA

Around 100 works by a total of 50 rising and renowned artists from Kyoto will be presented at The Echoes of East Kyoto exhibition held at WHAT CAFE, Tokyo, under the curation of "Onidaimyo (a curatorial unit represented by Kengo Kito / Daisuke Oba / Kohei Nawa)." A wide variety of two-dimensional and three-dimensional works by renowned artists and newcomers will be displayed at one venue to give a more profound experience of Kyoto's art scene.

In recent years, the momentum of young artists in Kyoto has continued to grow and shows no signs of slowing down. Young artists fresh out of university become more vital for the local and a global art scene and are drawing attention. Behind the continued emergence of artists with high potential lies a unique art ecosystem nurtured in Kyoto. This results from the loose vertical and horizontal ties among artists created by the convergence of several art universities and the seepage of art into the city through progressive initiatives such as the ARTISTS' FAIR KYOTO and art hotels and cafes.

This exhibition resulted from a genuine connection between artists that transcended generations and social positions. It will be a rare opportunity to reflect on the resonance of Kyoto's artistic energy on an unprecedented scale in the country's capital.

Exhibition Period: April 20 (Sat) - May 7 (Tue), 2024
Opening Hours: 11:00 - 18:00 (May 7 will be closed on 17:00)
Venue: WHAT CAFE
2-1-11 Higashi-Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 140-0002, Japan

Kana Akamatsu / Shinya Azuma / Midori Arai / Miho Iida / Mika Ieda / Mitsuhiro Ikeda / Shinya Imanishi / Takuma Oue / Hal Osawa / Daisuke Ohba / Yoshiki Omote / Toru Kamiya / Mana Kawamura / Rei Kizumoto / Kengo Kito / Shun Kimura / Arisa Kumagai / Aya Kurashiki / Taro Komiya / Mika Shinagawa / Masaharu Shin / Kanako Shintaku / Keisuke Jimba / Tsukika Takado / Tomohiro Takahashi / Yoshihiro Takeuchi / Takuro Tamura / Noboru Tsubaki / Narumi Tsubakino / Naoki Tomita / Ayami Nagata / Kohei Nawa / Hayaki Nishigaki / Fumiya Hirota / Atsuki Fujimoto / Mitsuru Furuta / Yuzuho Matsuoka / Saki Matsumura / Koga Miura / Saya Mimura / Mai Miyake / Kenji Yanobe / Mio Yamato / Yukino Yamanaka / Shohei Yamamoto / Aiko Yuno / Hiroaki Yoshioka / Yuto Yonemura / R E M A / Naosuke Wada

東 京都 展 The Echoes of East Kyoto

Kohei Nawa will be among the invited artists for the one-day art event PERPETUAL MOMENT - Time in Nature at the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum.

In the European Garden, supervised by Kazuyo Sejima, Nawa, 目［mé］, and Yusuke Komuta, will present an art installation exploring the themes of past, present, and future. Nawa will exhibit his sculpture "Peacock and Ether" with a peacock motif. The event also includes a symposium, a sound installation by Marihiko Hara, and a furniture exhibition by Enric Miralles and Benedetta Tagliabue.

Date: April 19 (Fri), 2024
Opening Hours: 10:00 - 18:00 (Last admission is 17:30)
Venue: European Garden, Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum
5-21-9 Shirokanedai, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-0071, Japan

Sound Installation & Symposium:
■ Session1 (13:00 - )
Speakers: Kohei Nawa / Yusuke Komuta / Teiya Iwabuchi (Editorial Director of Bijutsu Techo) / Kazuyo Sejima (Director of Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum)

■ Session2 (15:00 - )
Speakers: 目［mé］(Haruka Kojin, Kenji Minamigawa, Hirofumi Masui) / Teiya Iwabuchi / Kazuyo Sejima

Sponsored by: Rolex

PERPETUAL MOMENT − 自然の中の時間

 

Kohei Nawa will participate as an invited artist in the "Hyakunengo Art Festival -Uchiboso Art Festival-," an event commemorating the 150th anniversary of Chiba Prefecture. Nawa will present his "PixCell-Crow/Welding Mask/VR Controller (R)/Wooden Ladder" sculpture in the KURKKU FIELDS underground library in Kisarazu City.

Exhibition Period: March 23 (Sat) - May 26 (Sun), 2024
Opening Hours: 10:00 - 17:00
Closed: Tuesdays, Wednesdays (April 30 and May 1 will be opened.)
Venue: KURKKU FIELDS
2503 Yana, Kisarazu, Chiba 292-0812, Japan

Photo: Nobutada OMOTE

Hyakunengo Art Festival -Uchiboso Art Festival-

 

Kohei Nawa's sculpture “PixCell-Tarot Reading (Jan. 2023)” will be presented as a part of a group exhibition Absolute Chairs. The exhibition will take place at Saitama Museum of Modern Art.

This exhibition revolves around the representation of chairs in artworks primarily from the post-war period to the present day. It introduces approximately 70 two-dimensional, three-dimensional, and video works from both Japanese and foreign artists, unraveling the functions and implications of chairs within the domain of art.

Exhibition Period: February 17 (Sat) - May 12 (Sun), 2024
Opening Hours: 10:00 - 17:30 (Last admission is 17:00)
Closed: Mondays (April 29 and May 6 will be opened)
Venue: The Museum of Modern Art, Saitama
9-30-1 Tokiwa, Urawa-ku, Saitama-shi, Saitama 330-0061, Japan

Photo: Nobutada OMOTE

Absolute Chairs

 

“Planet [wanderer],” a performance by choreographer Damien Jalet and sculptor Kohei Nawa will be presented for 3 days at Grand Théâtre de Genève in Geneva, Switzerland.

Dates / Time: March 8 (Fri) & 9 (Sat), 2024 / 20:00 - 21:00
March 10 (Sun), 2024 / 15:00 - 16:00
Venue: Grand Théâtre de Genève
Boulevard du Théâtre 11 CH-1204 Genève, Switzerland
Tickets

Choreography: Damien Jalet
Scenography: Kohei Nawa
Lighting: Yukiko Yoshimoto
Costumes: Sruli Recht
Music: Tim Hecker
Sound Designer: Xavier Jacquot
Assistant choreographer: Alexandra Hoàng Gilbert
Outside eye: Catalina Navarrete Hernández
Creative producer: Jamila Hessaine

Dancers: Shawn Ahern, Kim Amankwaa, Aimilios Arapoglou, Francesco Ferrari, Vinson Fraley, Christina Guieb, Astrid Sweeney, Ema Yuasa

Produced by the Théâtre National de Bretagne
In partnership with Chaillot – Théâtre national de la Danse,  Associate Producer of the 2021 creation
Coproduction: Sandwich Inc.; Charleroi Danse; Festspielhaus St Pölten; Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre; Rohm Theatre Kyoto; Kyoto Art Center; Opéra de Rouen Normandie; Theater Kampnagel Hamburg; Ballet de Grand Théâtre de Genève; Staatstheater Darmstadt; Nagelhus Schia Productions

Cooperation: Kyoto University of the Arts – ULTRA SANDWICH PROJECT #14 #15 #16 #17, Kyoto University – Takenaka Laboratory

This show is supported by Grand Marble and MATSUSHIMA HOLDINGS CO. LTD.
Thanks to Théo Casciani and Prabda Yoon, Fabienne Aucant

Photo: Rahi Rezvani

Planet [wanderer]

 

An edited fragment of the performance work “VESSEL” conceived in collaboration with choreographer Damien Jalet is currently on display at Iris van Herpen. Sculpting the Senses exhibition held at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, France.

Exhibition Period: until April 28 (Sun), 2024
Opening Hours: [Tue/Wed/Fri] 11:00 - 18:00,  [Thu/Sat] 11:00 - 21:00, [Sun] 11:00 - 20:00
Closed: Mondays
Venue: Musée des Arts Décoratifs
107, rue de Rivoli, 75001 Paris, France

Photo: Yoshikazu INOUE

Iris van Herpen. Sculpting the Senses

 

Sculptor Kohei Nawa and dancer Min Tanaka will present their first collaborative performance "From the Edge" at YCC Kenmin Bunka Hall (Yamanashi Prefecture Citizen’s Cultural Hall) in Yamanashi, Japan.

Since the 70s, Min Tanaka has expanded his unconventional and experimental activities in search of the relationship between the body and the world. One such was the Hakushu Festival, which took place in a mountain village in Yamanashi prefecture, where he resided. Kohei Nawa participated in this pathbreaking outdoor art festival in Japan as a volunteer staff member—the experience, he claims, strongly influenced him.

As the information age advances, people’s sense of physicality fades; expressions without embodiment have begun to prevail. Where is humankind headed? Bodies are the first inherent surroundings for all living things and simultaneously a point of contact with the outer environment. Tanaka and Nawa have each paved the way for new possibilities in artistic creation by facing the bodies while vis-à-vis the social milieux of the different classes and strata. The two artists now venture on this theatrical project in Yamanashi, the place of their first encounter.

On stage, the vulture, considered to possess the power over life and death, stands still as if transcending time while universal motifs such as the mud and the fog fill up the space constantly shifting their forms. Viewing the human body and materials as a continuum, Nawa has sought perceptions that arise in the convection caused by the gradient. His works, despite the apparent tranquility, evoke a dynamic time-space where every substance continuously collides and yet harmonizes with each other. A dance will manifest itself between such a locale, Tanaka’s body, and the audience’s bodies; thus, emerges the stage work as an ever-transitory phenomenon—a true representation of waves coming and going from the other shore to this shore. The event (situation) will be presented to the audience engraving an indelible impression on their memory.

Dates/Time: January 10 (Wed) / 18:30 -  (Doors open at 17:45)
January 11 (Thu) / 13:30 -  (Doors open at 12:45)
January 11 (Thu) / 18:30 - (Doors open at 17:45)
Venue: YCC Kenmin Bunka Hall (Yamanashi Prefecture Citizen’s Cultural Hall)
26-1, Kotobuki-cho, Kofu city, Yamanashi 400-0033, Japan

Tickets:
■ Ticket Pia【P-code: 651-481】
■ Lawson Ticket【 L-code: 32475】
■ e+
■ YCC Kenmin Bunka Hall
Box Office: 26-1, Kotobuki-cho, Kofu city, Yamanashi  TEL 055-228-9131
■ UTY Television Yamanashi
Over the phone and at the counter: 2-13-1 Yuda, Kofu City, Yamanashi  TEL 055-232-1118 (9:30–18:30 weekdays)

Directed and composed by Min Tanaka | Kohei Nawa
Dance: Min Tanaka
Art: Kohei Nawa
Music: Marihiko Hara
Sound engineering: Raku Nakahara
Lighting: Yukiko Yoshimoto
Stage management: Masaya Natsume
Costume: Gembey Yamaguchi
Costume and hair styling: Rin Ishihara
Photo documentation: Itaru Hirama
Publicity Design: Takuma Hayashi
Volunteer participants: The Youth of Yamanashi

Conceived, organized, and co-presented by Madada Inc. + Sandwich Inc.

Supported by Valuence
Thanks to Oogoya Co., Ltd., Zabuton-tei Furyu Kikaku, SCAI THE BATHHOUSE, Gembey Yamaguchi (Kondaya Gembey Inc.)

Presented by Yamanashi Stage Art Project 2023 Committee, Japanese Council of Performers Rights and Performing Arts Organization (GEIDANKYO), Television Yamanashi Co., Ltd.
Generous support provided by The Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan (Cultural and artistic demand recovery and regional revitalization project (Art Caravan 2)) | JAPAN LIVE YELL project by the Japan Arts Council

From the Edge

We are pleased to present an exhibition of new works by Kohei Nawa at Pace Gallery in Seoul.

This exhibition combines paintings and sculptures from five different bodies of work and conveys Nawa's long-standing interest in art's perceptual, sensorial, and phenomenological possibilities. The title —Cosmic Sensibility— sets the exhibition's central concept —how we are intertwined in the fabric of the cosmos, and is an homage to the artist and Nawa's mentor, Hitoshi Nomura, whose oeuvre questions the relationship between the universe and life.

Nawa's show will begin on the first floor with his mixed-media installation "Biomatrix (W)," where the silicone oil traces the formation and flow of cells. New works from the "Ether" sculpture series, based on 3D modeling of a highly viscous liquid in various stages of descent, will also be presented in this space.

On the second floor, Nawa's masterpiece sculpture series, "PixCell," will invite viewers into the world of proliferating cells. The new works in the "PixCell" series feature peculiar combinations of objects and creatures that reference the history of surrealism while creating new textures in a present moment where technology disrupts the boundaries between reality and virtuality.

The third floor will unveil a new sculpture series, "Spark," finished entirely in black. Its bold and enigmatic appearance of carbon fiber rods and velvet evokes the rifts in reality created by the energy of agitated cells. The same floor will also feature the "Rhythm" series, finished in three shades of gray velvet, exploring the circularity and complexity of the natural world.

The exhibition will submerge viewers in the flow of cells and make them experience the awakening of their own cosmic sensibilities. We hope you enjoy viewing Nawa's contemplations and practices, which extend from living organisms to the universe.

Exhibition Period: November 22 (Wed), 2023 - January 20 (Sat), 2024
Opening Hours: 10:00 - 18:00
Closed: Mondays and Sundays
Venue: Pace Gallery
267 Itaewon-ro, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, Korea

Photo: Nobutada OMOTE

Cosmic Sensibility

 

The new 2024 year is approaching, and we, Kohei Nawa and the Sandwich team would like to express our sincere gratitude for your support this exceptional year.

This year was marked by several local solo shows: starting with a trilogy exhibition, "Project," presented in Gallery Nomart, Osaka, and continuing to Kyoto shows "Cell Field" (TSUTAYA BOOKS) and "From Code to Material" (kojin kyoto).

The 2023 year gave more opportunities to bring more people closer to art. "Ether (Equlity)," a 25-meter sculpture unveiled in the middle of the Seine River in France, became the largest sculpture to date. In Japan, "Ether#98," a new sculpture in the series, was installed in the library of "SHINDO YARDS" in front of Shindo Station in Mie Prefecture; "Cycle," a new artwork representing the circulation of life and energy was revealed on the facade of "Onikuru," a complex facility in Ibaraki, Osaka.

"VESSEL" and "Planet [wanderer]," performance pieces conceived in a creative tandem with choreographer Damien Jalet, continued touring across Europe with new dates coming next year.

This year became a new milestone for "Sandwich," a Kyoto-based creative platform founded by Kohei Nawa. To mark 14 years since its foundation, we have published a studio book dedicated to the platform's activities; as Sandwich is constantly stimulated by the endless circulation of various things, events, and people, this book is made to bring this dynamic experience to inspire other people.

Finally, yet importantly, "Cosmic Sensibility," a solo show featuring Nawa's five long-standing and new series of works, was presented in Pace Gallery in Seoul. Due to the warm critics' response and a high number of visitors, the show was extended to January 20, 2024.

All of this has only been made possible through the endless support of our dear partners and friends.

Wishing you a happy holiday season.

Kohei Nawa | Sandwich team

 

“Planet [wanderer],” a collaborative performance of choreographer Damien Jalet and sculptor Kohei Nawa will be presented at Kampnagel in Hamburg, Germany.

Dates: December 7 (Thu), 8 (Fri), 9 (Sat), 2023
Hours: 20:00 - 21:00
Venue: Kampnagel
Jarrestraße 20, 22303 Hamburg, Germany
Tickets

Choreography: Damien Jalet
Scenography: Kohei Nawa
Lighting: Yukiko Yoshimoto
Costumes: Sruli Recht
Music: Tim Hecker
Sound Designer: Xavier Jacquot
Assistant choreographer: Alexandra Hoàng Gilbert
Outside eye: Catalina Navarrete Hernández
Creative producer: Jamila Hessaine

Dancers: Shawn Ahern, Aimilios Arapoglou, Francesco Ferrari, Vinson Fraley, Christina Guieb, Astrid Sweeney, Ema Yuasa
Replacements: Karima El Amrani

Produced by the Théâtre National de Bretagne
In partnership with Chaillot – Théâtre national de la Danse,  Associate Producer of the 2021 creation
Coproduction: Sandwich Inc.; Charleroi Danse; Festspielhaus St Pölten; Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre; Rohm Theatre Kyoto; Kyoto Art Center; Opéra de Rouen Normandie; Theater Kampnagel Hamburg; Ballet de Grand Théâtre de Genève; Staatstheater Darmstadt; Nagelhus Schia Productions

Cooperation: Kyoto University of the Arts – ULTRA SANDWICH PROJECT #14 #15 #16 #17, Kyoto University – Takenaka Laboratory

This show is supported by Grand Marble and MATSUSHIMA HOLDINGS CO. LTD.
Thanks to Théo Casciani and Prabda Yoon, Fabienne Aucant

Photo: ©Rahi Rezvani

Planet [wanderer]

We are pleased to announce Kohei Nawa's solo exhibition, From Code to Material, that will be held at kojin kyoto, Kyoto.

The exhibition will feature a selection of recent two-dimensional and three-dimensional works: from “White Code,” reminiscent of Morse code and a rain of program codes flowing through a monochrome screen, to “PixCell” and “Prism,” - sculptures based on motifs collected via the Internet.

The top floor's exposition features material samples and test pieces shown to illustrate some aspects of the production process of the works, so the focus shifts from “code” to “material” as one ascends the floor. Through the various body of works, the exhibition will allow viewers to encounter the boundary where information and matter are being mutually converted and to get a glimpse of Kohei Nawa's thinking and reflecting processes.

Exhibition Period: October 29 (Sun) - November 5 (Sun), 2023
Opening Hours: 12:00 - 18:00
Closed: October 30 (Mon)
Venue: kojin kyoto
248-6, Kamiikesucho, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto 602-0855, Japan

Organized by: SCAI THE BATHHOUSE

Photo: Nobutada OMOTE

From Code to Material

 

We are pleased to announce the publication of a new book recording 14 years of activities of Sandwich - a creative platform launched and run by Kohei Nawa.

The book compiles records of projects and practices spanning multiple fields and genres and contains texts contributed by Kohei Nawa and Sandwich’s close friends and collaborators - experts from various fields and fellow creators. Sandwich’s ceaseless growth is inspired by the flow of numerous things, matters, people, and the interactions between them within the studio. This book gives a glimpse of Sandwich activities and shares its atmosphere.

[Overview]
“Sandwich” is a creative platform run by sculptor Kohei Nawa and launched in Fushimi, Kyoto, in 2009. The platform is based in a renovated building that used to be a sandwich manufacturing factory. Sandwich expands beyond the office studio, where the staff and project members perform a certain set of tasks. It’s a platform that connects a laboratory for experiments with different materials with a factory for developing equipment and tools through a space flexible for various production processes. It serves as a hub for international and intercultural workshops, provides an educational system that brings art students straight to the art scene and is a residence for artists and collaborators worldwide. Just as Nawa's multidisciplinary practice goes far beyond his native genre of sculpture and spans the fields of architecture, interior design, stage art, design, fashion, and dance performance, Sandwich continues to grow, stimulated by the numerous encounters of humans, things, and matters.

Located far from the busy urban center of Kyoto, with the Uji River gently washing the shores of the local rural landscape, the studio became an inception point for dozens of Sandwich and Nawa's works. Although it is nearly impossible to cover all of its activities in one book, we can catch a glimpse of the studio's intense days and the atmosphere of creation it's infused with.

This book has captured and recorded the fragments of Sandwich's activities that have gone beyond contemporary art and influence people, cities, society, and ultimately the world around.

[Basic Information]
Publisher: Sandwich Inc.
Size: 357 x 260 mm
Number of pages: 290 pages
Binding: Full-color paperback
Design/editing/production: Takuma Hayashi (Hayashi Takuma Design Office), Yohei Sanjo (ORDINARY BOOKS), Sandwich Inc.
ISBN: 978-4-9913310-0-8
Sales price: 10,000 yen (excl. tax)
Printing/binding: Nissha Co., Ltd.
Distribution: twelvebooks
Sale points: Kyoto Tsutaya Bookstore, twelvebooks, etc.

Photo: Jinn Yagi

Sandwich

On the occasion of the opening of Kyoto Tsutaya Books (Kyoto Takashimaya S.C.), we are pleased to announce Kohei Nawa & Sandwich's show Cell Field.

Countless works and projects come every day out of the creative platform “Sandwich” in Fushimi in Kyoto, which is run by Nawa. This very place that connects artists, staff, and students from various professional fields is itself a creation inextricably linked to Kohei Nawa.

The current exhibition features various series of works such as “Cell Field,” a painting where oil paint is being transformed and reshaped over several months, a series of prints that express the state of cells through physical simulation, UV-printed works “Ray,” and “Lens.” The exhibition space is also filled with many small three-dimensional works, test pieces, material samples, croquis pads, and other things essential for a creative process in Sandwich that bring a studio atmosphere to an exhibition.

This exhibition explores and shares the world of Nawa's works and how he cultivated time and space with Sandwich.

Exhibition Period: October 17 (Tue) - November 7 (Tue), 2023
Opening Hours: 11:00 - 20:00 *Closed at 18:00 on November 7.
Venue: Kyoto Tsutaya Books (Kyoto Takashimaya S.C.) 5F Exhibition Space
52 Shincho, Kawaramachi Nishiiru, Shijodori, Shimogyoku, Kyoto 600-800, Japan

Organized by: Kyoto Tsutaya Books
Cooperation in Information: KYOTO INTERNATIONAL FILM AND ART FESTIVAL 2023

Photo: Nobutada OMOTE

Cell Field

“Planet [wander]”, a performance piece co-created by Damien Jalet and Kohei Nawa is back on tour in Europe. The first performance will take place in Charleroi, Belgium as a part of the Charleroi International Dance Biennale.

◼︎Planet [wanderer] – Charleroi, Belgium
Dates: October 6 (Fri), 2023　21:00-
October 7 (Sat), 2023　20:00-
October 8 (Sun), 2023　16:00-
Venue: Les Écuries
Bld Pierre Mayence 65c, B 6000 Charleroi, Belgium
website

◼︎Planet [wanderer] – Hamburg, Germany
Dates: December 7 (Thu), 2023　20:00-
December 8 (Fri), 2023　20:00-
December 9 (Sat), 2023　20:00-
Venue: Kampnagel
Jarrestraße 20, 22303 Hamburg, Germany
website

◼︎Planet [wanderer] – Geneva, Switzerland
Dates: March 8 (Fri), 2024　20:00-
March 9 (Sat), 2024　20:00-
March 10 (Sun), 2024　15:00-
Venue: Grand Théâtre de Genève
Bd du Théâtre 11, 1204 Genève, Switzerland
website

Choreography: Damien Jalet
Scenography: Kohei Nawa
Lighting: Yukiko Yoshimoto
Costumes: Sruli Recht
Music: Tim Hecker
Sound Designer: Xavier Jacquot
Assistant choreographer: Alexandra Hoàng Gilbert
Outside eye: Catalina Navarrete Hernández
Dancers: Shawn Ahern, Kim Amankwaa, Aimilios Arapoglou, Francesco Ferrari, Vinson Fraley, Christina Guieb, Astrid Sweeney, Ema Yuasa
Replacements: Thi-Mai Nguyen, Karima El Almarani

Produced by the Théâtre National de Bretagne
In partnership with Chaillot – Théâtre national de la Danse, Associate Producer of the 2021 creation
Co-production: Sandwich Inc; Festspielhaus St Pölten; Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre; Rohm Theatre Kyoto; Opéra de Rouen Normandie; Charleroi Danse; Theater Kampnagel Hamburg; Ballet de Grand Théâtre de Genève; Staatstheater Darmstadt; Nagelhus Schia Productions

Cooperation: Kyoto University of the Arts – Ultra_Sandwich#14 #15 #16 #17, Kyoto University – Takenaka Laboratory
Thanks to Théo Casciani, Prabda Yoon, Fabienne Aucant

This show is supported by Grand Marble and MATSUSHIMA HOLDINGS CO. LTD.

Photo: ©Rahi Rezvani 2022

Planet [wanderer]

On June 28, 2023, Kohei Nawa's public sculpture “Ether (Equality)” will be unveiled on the Seguin Island on France’s Seine River.

Nawa, who partnered with the digital art platform DANAE.IO for this project, was selected to create “Ether (Equality)” in an international competition organized by the Hauts-de-Seine department centered on the theme of égalité (equality). The competition was held as a part of Seguin Island's major redevelopment project with world-renowned architects Jean Nouvel and Shigeru Ban.

25 meters tall, “Ether (Equality)” is one of Nawa's largest sculptures. The stainless steel sculpture, glowing a pale silver pink, is composed of polyhedrons, echoing the polyhedral dome of La Seine Musicale behind it and rises like a beacon leading the way to Seguin Island and its future.

Opening date: June 28 (Wed), 2023 - permanently
Venue: La Seine Musicale
Île Seguin, 92100 Boulogne-Billancourt, France

2023, Stainless steel, paint, 25 × 3.5 x 3.5 m
©Kohei Nawa | Sandwich Inc., Courtesy of SCAI THE BATHHOUSE, Pace Gallery
Installation view: Seguin Island, Boulogne-Billancourt, France
Photo: Gérald Le Van Chau

Ether (Equality)

 

We are honored to present Kohei Nawa and Bruno Botella’s ROLLING THE GRAY MUDS OF DREAM, a two-person exhibition that will take place in MtK Contemporary Art (Kyoto).

This exhibition features Nawa and Botella’s drawing experiments created together and individually. An inherent power concealed in simple materials such as graphite, ink, and paper, comes into reaction with artists’ ideas and impressions and forms a body of works that appears as living organisms undergoing perpetual cell division and attracting an anima to dwell in.

“I realized that just drawing in the middle of the night is the most fun”, Nawa and Botella admit.
Please take this opportunity to witness the series of works that lay the foundation for both artists’ oeuvres.

Exhibition Period: June 16 (Fri) - July 29 (Sat), 2023
Opening Hours: 10:00 - 18:00
Closed: Sundays
Opening reception: June 16 (Fri), 2023 / 18:00 - 20:30
Venue: MtK Contemporary Art
20-1 Okazaki Minamigoshocho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture 606-8334, Japan

Photo: Nobutada OMOTE

ROLLING THE GRAY MUDS OF DREAM

“VESSEL”, a collaborative performance with Belgian choreographer Damien Jalet will be presented at Grec Festival in Barcelona, Spain.

Date and time: July 2nd (Sun), 2023 / 18:00 - 19:00
July 3rd (Mon), 2023 / 20:00 - 21:00
Venue: Mercat de les Flors
Lleida, 59, 08004 Barcelona, Spain

Choreography: Damien Jalet ｜ Scenography: Kohei Nawa
Dancers: Aimilios Arapoglou, Nobuyoshi Asai, Ruri Mito, Jun Morii, Mirai Moriyama, Astrid Sweeney, Naoko Tozawa
Music : Marihiko Hara (Special guest: Ryuichi Sakamoto)
Lighting design: Yukiko Yoshimoto
Stage director: David Thébaut
Stage manager: Laurent Lebarbé
Sound: Cédric Alaïs
Lighting: Ronan Cabon, Sylvain Brossard

Production: Sandwich Inc., Theatre National de Bretagne
Coproduction: Arario Gallery; Grand Marble Co., Ltd; Warehouse Terrada; Amuse Inc.; Culture Convenience Club Co., Ltd.
*Performance was created at Villa Kujoyama in Kyoto (Japan) in 2015.

photo: Yoshikazu Inoue

VESSEL

 



 

Kohei Nawa's new large-scale sculpture to be unveiled on the Seine River in France on June 28, 2023

A 25-METER-TALL SCULPTURE STANDING IN A NEW CULTURAL CENTER OF FRANCE
On June 28, 2023, sculptor Kohei Nawa's 25-meter-tall public sculpture Ether (Equality) will be unveiled on the Seguin Island on France’s Seine River. Nawa, who partnered with the digital art platform DANAE.IO for this project, was selected to create Ether (Equality) in an international competition organized by the Hauts-de-Seine department centered on the theme of égalité (equality).

 



 

A NEW LONG-AWAITED SYMBOL OF THE SEINE IS FACING ITS COMPLETION AFTER CORONA PANDEMIC.
As a new cultural center of France, Seguin Island is undergoing a major redevelopment project with world-renowned architects Jean Nouvel and Shigeru Ban. As a part of the project, the Hauts de Seine department decided to install a large monumental work and held an international competition in 2019 on the theme of "égalité" (equality). The competition called for a work that would respond to France’s Pont de Grenelle Statue of Liberty; La Seine Musicale, the music and performing arts complex on Seguin; and various historic sculptures situated along the surrounding riverbanks.
Nawa teamed up with DANAE.IO, a French digital art leader, to propose Ether (Equality). His works was selected out of 35 proposals from all over the world. After overcoming the rigorous planning and production process in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the project is now nearing completion on June 28, 2023.

 

RHYTHM AND HARMONY CREATED BY THE SHAPE OF THE DROP
25 meters tall, Ether (Equality) is one of Nawa's largest sculptures. The stainless steel sculpture, glowing in a pale silver pink, is composed of polyhedrons, echoing the polyhedral dome of La Seine Musicale behind it and rises like a beacon leading the way to Seguin Island and its future.
Ether (Equality) is formed by extracting the form of a droplet dripping to the ground, inverting it upside down, and piling it up in a random sequence. The continuous drops of various shapes create a visual rhythm that echoes through the Seine River and spreads it further to the world. Gravity and harmony perform together and come into interplay with Earth.

 

SCULPTOR KOHEI NAWA, WHO IS BUILDING THE BUILDING THE BRIDGE BETWEEN FRANCE AND JAPAN
Based in Kyoto, Nawa has been developing his global activities, and among them, he has established a deep relationship with France.
At "Japonismes 2018" a festival commemorating the 160th anniversary of Japan-France friendship, he presented Throne - a large 10.4 meter-high sculpture decorated with gold leaf inside the Louvre's pyramid, and Foam - an installation using bubbles in the Rothschild Pavilion, as well as a solo exhibition "PixCell- Deer" at the Museum of Hunting and Nature. This was preceded by The Centre Pompidou-Metz’ exhibition "Japanorama: A new vision on art since 1970,” in 2017, curated by Yuko Hasegawa, in which Nawa presented Force - an installation of a black silicon oil pouring down from the ceiling. Vessel (nominated for the 2020 Lawrence Olivier Awards) and Planet [wanderer], two performance pieces created in collaboration with choreographer Damien Jalet, have been performed at the Théâtre National de Chaillot in Paris, the Opéra de Rouen Normandie in Rouen, and other venues around the world. Nawa has also collaborated with fashion brands - COMME des GARÇONS for the 2012SS and ANREALAGE for the 2017AW to produce showpieces for the Paris collections, connecting French culture and art with Japan.

 



 

SEGUIN ISLAND, THE SYMBOL OF FRENCH MODERNIZATION
The theme of "égalité" (equality) appears even more vividly when we look at the history of the Seguin Island, where the sculpture is located.
The Seine River is one of the symbols of Paris. Seguin Island is located slightly downstream from the Notre Dame Cathedral and the Eiffel Tower, both of which are part of a World Heritage site. Since the chemist Armand Seguin, from whom it takes its name, established a tanning factory there at the end of the 18th century, it has flourished as the industrial center of the Seine region. When a large automobile plant was built in 1929, it became a symbol of France's modernization and industrial development. The plant has been the target of criticism for its strict labor standards and environmental pollution, but it has also been used as a base for radical labor unions, and its meaning has been constantly reinterpreted. The plant was heavily bombed during World War II, entailed many casualties, and was then engulfed by the wave of technological innovation after the war, leading to its demolition in 1992.
In 2009, a redevelopment plan was launched with Jean Nouvel as director to revive Seguin Island as a cultural center. This was a large-scale plan that included an art center and office and commercial facilities. In 2017, La Seine Musicale, a comprehensive music facility, was completed and designed by Shigeru Ban, one of Japan's leading architects.

 

KOHEI NAWA
Sculptor / Professor at Kyoto University of the Arts. Born in 1975, Nawa graduated from Kyoto City University of Arts in 2003 with a doctorate in sculpture, and founded "Sandwich" in Fushimi, Kyoto in 2009.
Nawa is a sculptor based in Kyoto, Japan, who has consistently presented numerous series of genre-crossing works, focusing on the "surface skin" of sculpture under his unique concept of "cell". In the past, he has reinterpreted the definition of sculpture in such works as PixCell, where he covers motifs with transparent glass spheres of various sizes to reflect on The Information Age, Direction, a gravity-based painting, and Force, in which silicone oil cascades down to the ground. In recent years, he has been actively engaged in architectural projects such as Kohtei - an art pavilion in Hiroshima, as well as a series of performance works in collaboration with Belgian choreographer Damien Jalet.

 

CREDITS:
Ether (Equality)
2023, Stainless steel, paint, 25 × 3.5 × 3.5 m
©Kohei Nawa | Sandwich Inc., Courtesy of SCAI THE BATHHOUSE and Pace Gallery
Installation view: Seguin Island, Boulogne-Billancourt, France
Photo: Emmanuelle Blanc

FOR INQUIRIES:
Sandwich Inc.
45-1, Fujinoki-cho, Mukaijima, Fushimi-ku, Kyoto 612-8132 JAPAN
TEL: ＋81 75-468-8211 　Email: office@sandwich-cpca.net
Person-in-charge: Leisan Shakirova

We are pleased to present Kohei Nawa’s trilogy exhibition Project at Gallery Nomart, Osaka.

Exhibition Period:
[vol.1 Movie] until February 25 (Sat), 2023
[vol.2 Tarot] March 4 (Sat) - March 25 (Sat), 2023
[vol.3 Cell] April 1 (Sat) - April 22 (Sat), 2023

Opening Hours: 13:00 - 19:00
Closed: Sundays, National holidays
Venue: Gallery Nomart
3-5-22, Nagata, Joto-ku, Osaka 536-0022, Japan

Project

“VESSEL”, a collaborative performance with Belgian choreographer Damien Jalet will be presented at Bregenzer Frühling in Bregenz, Austria.

Date and time: March 11 (Sat), 2023 / 20:00 - 21:00
Venue: Festspielhaus Bregenz
Platz d. Wr. Symphoniker 1, 6900 Bregenz, Austria

Choreography: Damien Jalet ｜ Scenography: Kohei Nawa
Dancers: Aimilios Arapoglou, Nobuoyoshi Asai, Nao Aerstix, Ruri Mitoh, Francesco Ferrari, Astrid Sweeney, Jun Morii
Music : Marihiko Hara (Special guest: Ryuichi Sakamoto)
Lighting: Yukiko Yoshimoto
Stage director: So Ozaki

Production: Sandwich Inc., Theatre National de Bretagne
Coproduction: Arario Gallery; Grand Marble Co., Ltd; Warehouse Terrada; Amuse Inc.; Culture Convenience Club Co., Ltd.
*Performance was created at Villa Kujoyama in Kyoto (Japan) in 2015.

Tickets

VESSEL

Kyoto will host ARTISTS’ FAIR KYOTO 2023 - an art fair handled entirely by artists - from planning to curation. Nawa’s sculptures will be on view in Shosei-en Garden.

Exhibition Period: March 4 (Sat) - March 12 (Sun), 2023
Opening Hours: 9:00 - 17:00 (Last admission 16:00)
Venue: Shōsei-en Garden
Higashitamamizu-cho, Ainomachi Higashi-iru, Shimo-juzuyamachi-dori, Shimogyō-ku, Kyoto 600-8190, Japan

Tickets

ARTISTS’ FAIR KYOTO

We are pleased to present Kohei Nawa’s new trilogy exhibition Project at Gallery Nomart, Osaka.

Project will be presented in 3 chapters - vol.1 Movie, vol.2 Tarot, and vol.3 Cell, with each focusing on video, two-dimensional, and three-dimensional images respectively. The exhibition will trace Nawa’s vision from the early stages to his current oeuvre.

The first chapter, vol.1 Movie, starting on February 4, will spotlight a video piece “Dot-Movie” first presented at Nawa's solo exhibition Transcode held at Gallery Nomart in 2009. This time “Dot-Movie” will be presented in 4K along with the other pieces based on the video work.

Exhibition Period: February 4 (Sat) -  February 25 (Sat), 2023
Opening Hours : 13:00 - 19:00
Closed : Sundays, National holidays
Venue : Gallery Nomart
3-5-22, Nagata, Joto-ku, Osaka, 536-0022 Japan

Project