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
![John Pawson sculpture Tokyo The Mass](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/zaCXEKr6Qsbz2zyKsJgfRm-415-80.jpg)
John Pawson might be best known as an architect, whose ultra-minimalist, rigorously direct approach probes the fundamental meaning of inhabitation and how the body relates to space.
Pawson’s new exhibition at The Mass, Tokyo, is something of a homecoming for the architect, who lived in Japan in his mid-twenties; first in Nagoya, and later in Tokyo, where he frequented the studio of architect and designer Shiro Kuramata. These formative experiences in the country would go on to heavily influence the distilled, pared-back approach to architecture and design for which Pawson made his name.
Lunula: John Pawson's sculptural debut
John Pawson, Lunula
Pawson’s show at The Mass, his first solo show in Japan, will span three gallery spaces and extend to an outdoor area in StandBy, a nearby installation space where he will debut his first sculpture. Lunula is a charcoal-coloured structure that can be entered and inhabited. Although Pawson has remained consistent in his view that his work is architecture, as opposed to art, his new sculpture probes the intersection of these disciplines and more broadly questions the relevance of such labels. Lunula is positioned as a multi-sensory experience, enveloping the viewer in its crescent shape and offering a place to sit and reflect around a cylindrical chimney and billowing incense. ‘I designed Lunula as a piece of inhabitable sculpture, to be experienced as a seamless sensory totality. I want it to be a place that feels comfortable to be in, where all the qualities of a very particular spatial environment come alive.’
John Pawson, Lunula
In the galleries, Pawson will show chromatically ordered images from his Spectrum series, and debut a new series, Home, in which the architect turns his lens towards his own domestic spaces. In these images, Pawson transcends the precision and often white minimalism of his architecture and design work, inviting viewers on a journey of colour, texture, atmosphere and their collective ability to rouse emotion.
Installation view of John Pawson's exhibition at The Mass, Tokyo
Pawson’s ability to command light and space in the photographic sphere has come to the fore in recent years. It began in 2012 with ‘A Visual Inventory’, followed five years later by Spectrum, which began in book form and became a 2018 exhibition at London’s 180 The Strand. ‘A Shade of Pale’, curated by Carrie Scott, enveloped the entire gallery space in 320 photographs, staged as an immersive architectural installation.
‘In accepting the invitation to exhibit my photographic work at The Mass, I have a sense of completing a circle that began nearly half a century ago, when I was living in Japan’, says Pawson, who explains how he enlists his camera in the same way that others might use a sketchbook. ‘Those years, first in Nagoya and then in Tokyo, clarified so much for me and continue to influence what I see when I look through the lens of a camera.’
John Pawson's exhibition at The Mass, Tokyo, runs from 14 April - 14 May 2023. themass.jp
Wallpaper* Newsletter + Free Download
For a free digital copy of August Wallpaper*, celebrating Creative America, sign up today to receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories
Harriet Lloyd-Smith was the Arts Editor of Wallpaper*, responsible for the art pages across digital and print, including profiles, exhibition reviews, and contemporary art collaborations. She started at Wallpaper* in 2017 and has written for leading contemporary art publications, auction houses and arts charities, and lectured on review writing and art journalism. When she’s not writing about art, she’s making her own.
-
‘Hedonistic and avant-garde’: Rabanne’s Julian Dossena on the legacy of the chainmail 1969 bag
Paco Rabanne’s 1969 chainmail handbag encapsulates the late designer’s futuristic, space-age style. Current creative director Julien Dossena tells Wallpaper* about the bag’s particular pleasures
By Jack Moss Published
-
Postcard from Paris: Olympic fever takes over the streets
On the eve of the opening ceremony of Paris 2024, our correspondent shares her views from the streets of the capital about how the event is impacting the urban landscape.
By Minako Norimatsu Published
-
The Mercury Prize nominees for 2024 have been revealed
Charli XCX, The Last Dinner Party and Beth Gibbons are amongst this year's nominees
By Charlotte Gunn Published
-
Deathmatch wrestling’s behind-the-scenes moments and bloody glory
A new limited-edition book explores the intersection between art and deathmatch wrestling at a sold-out show held in Tokyo
By Anne Soward Published
-
Harlem-born artist Tschabalala Self’s colourful ode to the landscape of her childhood
Tschabalala Self’s new show at Finland's Espoo Museum of Modern Art evokes memories of her upbringing, in vibrant multi-dimensional vignettes
By Millen Brown-Ewens Published
-
Wanås Konst sculpture park merges art and nature in Sweden
Wanås Konst’s latest exhibition, 'The Ocean in the Forest', unites land and sea with watery-inspired art in the park’s woodland setting
By Alice Godwin Published
-
Pino Pascali’s brief and brilliant life celebrated at Fondazione Prada
Milan’s Fondazione Prada honours Italian artist Pino Pascali, dedicating four of its expansive main show spaces to an exhibition of his work
By Kasia Maciejowska Published
-
John Cage’s ‘now moments’ inspire Lismore Castle Arts’ group show
Lismore Castle Arts’ ‘Each now, is the time, the space’ takes its title from John Cage, and sees four artists embrace the moment through sculpture and found objects
By Amah-Rose Abrams Published
-
Gerhard Richter unveils new sculpture at Serpentine South
Gerhard Richter revisits themes of pattern and repetition in ‘Strip-Tower’ at London’s Serpentine South
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Peter Blake’s sculptures spark joy at Waddington Custot in London
‘Peter Blake: Sculpture and Other Matters’, at London's Waddington Custot, spans six decades of the artist's career
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Oozing, squidgy, erupting forms come alive at Hayward Gallery
‘When Forms Come Alive: Sixty Years of Restless Sculpture’ at Hayward Gallery, London, is a group show full of twists and turns
By Hannah Silver Published