’Origins in Progress’ by BCXSY at Pantaloon Gallery, Osaka
November was a big month for Boaz Cohen and Sayaka Yamamoto. Better known as BCXSY, the Eindhoven-based duo not only unveiled new work at DesignTide Tokyo and put the final touches on a gallery exhibition in Osaka, but somehow also found some time to get married in between.
Congratulations aside, it's the exhibition that really has us talking. Showing at Osaka's Pantaloon gallery, 'Origins in Progress' serves as BCXY's first solo show for a Japanese audience. The exhibition features some of their best known products, including our personal favourite, the 'Join' screens - which, despite being designed and produced in Japan, have never been shown on Asian shores.
Centered around their 'Origins' series, which loyally incorporates a different traditional craft in each piece, the show promises to do BCXSY's thoughtful design provocations due justice by carefully tracing their distinctive ethos from beginning to end. Be it Japanese wood joinery in their delicate screens, rustic Lakiya weaving for their 'Balance' rugs and sturdy Irish carpentry for the 'Contrast' stools, bowls and trays, each piece will be accompanied by photographs, depicting the designers' inspirations and experiences while documenting the progress of each collaboration.
Although the exhibition largely sprung out of a spontaneous meeting with gallery owners Tomoharu Shiiya and Aya Nakano at Dutch Design Week last year, the projected, which was art direted by the pair and commissioned by Inframince Inc. (who also brought in BCXSY's newest work, the 'In Between' collection of hand-blown glass vessels from DesignTide Tokyo also on show,) Cohen and Yamamoto have chosen to present in Osaka for another reason. During the exhibition, the couple will also develop a new product, this time calling on the skills of a bamboo master in Hyogo, to be revealed in Milan next year. In the meantime, a space has been reserved within the gallery to track and document the development of this piece as it unfolds.
If all that just makes you want to get further under the skin of BCXSY, the designers will host two talks on 1 and 22 December to share even more of their processes.
ADDRESS
Pantaloon
3-7-14 Nakatsu,
Kita-ku,
Osaka
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox
Pei-Ru Keh is a former US Editor at Wallpaper*. Born and raised in Singapore, she has been a New Yorker since 2013. Pei-Ru held various titles at Wallpaper* between 2007 and 2023. She reports on design, tech, art, architecture, fashion, beauty and lifestyle happenings in the United States, both in print and digitally. Pei-Ru took a key role in championing diversity and representation within Wallpaper's content pillars, actively seeking out stories that reflect a wide range of perspectives. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two children, and is currently learning how to drive.
-
Mighty Kia EV9 is the brand’s biggest electric vehicle. How does it scale up to its rivals?
We take the Kia EV9 – now in showrooms, in a wide range of versions – for a spin to see how the revitalised company handles the design of a big SUV
By Guy Bird Published
-
Kinsman cocktail bar shakes up Hong Kong scene with Cantonese spirits
Kinsman is a Cantonese cocktail bar in Hong Kong that celebrates traditional spirits while also creating innovative concoctions for the future
By Lauren Ho Published
-
Swatch and Tate have watches down to a fine art
Swatch x Tate watches are a joyful tribute to seven artists, including Matisse, Miró, and Louise Bourgeois
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Heads up: art exhibitions to see in January 2024
Start the year right with the Wallpaper* pick of art exhibitions to see in January 2024
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Olafur Eliasson inaugurates Azabudai Hills Gallery in Tokyo
Olafur Eliasson marks launch of Azabudai Hills Gallery, in Tokyo’s major new district, with a show of elemental strength
By Danielle Demetriou Published
-
Photographer David Abrahams captures quiet moments in Japan for his new London show
‘Kyushu’ is a new show from photographer David Abrahams that documents his trip to a town on the Japanese island
By Mary Cleary Published
-
John Pawson unveils first-ever sculpture in Tokyo exhibition
At The Mass, Tokyo, British architect John Pawson stages his first solo exhibition in Japan, revealing his first sculpture and a new photography series
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith Published
-
Hiroshi Sugimoto: ‘The deeper I explore Shinto and Buddhist art, the more it reveals the shallowness of contemporary art’
‘Hiroshi Sugimoto – The Descent of the Kasuga Spirit’, at the Kasuga-Taisha shrine in Nara, Japan, sees the acclaimed photographer draw on Japan’s spiritual past and present
By Minako Norimatsu Published
-
Artist’s Palate: Chiharu Shiota’s recipe for okonomiyaki
Get tangled up in Chiharu Shiota’s recipe for okonomiyaki, from our January 2023 issue’s Artist’s Palate feature, a Wallpaper* homage to our favourite contemporary art
By TF Chan Published
-
‘East Meets West’: artists Samiro Yunoki and Kori Girard unite at Ace Hotel Kyoto
Art exhibition, ‘East Meets West’ at Ace Hotel Kyoto marks Japanese artist Samiro Yunoki’s 100th birthday, in dialogue with new works by American artist Kori Girard
By Pei-Ru Keh Last updated
-
teamLab: how a Tokyo art collective pioneered an immersive art boom
With an operatic intervention and a show at Pace Geneva, teamLab, the now-700-strong Tokyo-based collective that blazed a trail for experiential, tech-fuelled art, continues to value ‘physical interaction in physical space’
By Nick Compton Last updated