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.
Origin part II: 'Contrast' fruit bowl
The exhibition features some of their best known products, including our personal favourite, the 'Join' screens. Pictured from back: 'Origin part I: Join' screens and 'Origin part II: Balance' rugs. The lighting in the exhibition is soft and cool, filtered by linen curtains
'Origin part I: Join' screens. Despite being designed and produced in Japan, the screens have never been shown on Asian shores
'Origin part II: Balance' rugs. Each piece in the exhibition is accompanied by photographs depicting the designers' inspirations and techniques, such as the rustic Lakiya weaving used for their rugs
Origin part II: 'Balance' rugs
'Coiled' consists of a series of interior accessories that finds inspiration in traditional ceramic vessels. The pieces were made in colaboration with Stockholm-based production platform EiC and a craft collective of women from South Africa
Pantaloon Gallery also commissioned BCXSY's newest work, the 'In Between' collection of hand-blown glass vessels from DesignTide Tokyo
'In Between' for Inframince Inc by BCXSY
ADDRESS
Pantaloon
3-7-14 Nakatsu,
Kita-ku,
Osaka
-
The bespoke Jaguar E-Type GTO melds elements from every era of the classic sports carECD Automotive Design’s one-off commission caters to a client who wanted to combine the greatest hits of Jaguar’s E-Type along with modern conveniences and more power
-
Casa Sanlorenzo debuts in Venice as a new hub for contemporary artThe luxury yachting leader unveils a stunning new space in a palazzo restored by Piero Lissoni – where art, innovation, and sustainability come together
-
Once vacant, London's grand department stores are getting a new lease on lifeThanks to imaginative redevelopment, these historic landmarks are being rebonr as residences, offices, gyms and restaurants. Here's what's behind the trend
-
Out of office: the Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the weekIt was a jam-packed week for the Wallpaper* staff, entailing furniture, tech and music launches and lots of good food – from afternoon tea to omakase
-
Inside Kyotographie, Japan’s world-renowned photography festivalKyotographie 2025 embraces the theme ‘Humanity’ in Kyoto – Amah-Rose Abram reports with the highlights, from major and emerging photographers
-
'I’m So Happy You Are Here': discover the work of Japanese women photographersSubtitled ‘Japanese Women Photographers from the 1950s to Now’, this new monograph from Aperture is a fascinating insight into a critically overlooked body of work
-
Deathmatch wrestling’s behind-the-scenes moments and bloody gloryA new limited-edition book explores the intersection between art and deathmatch wrestling at a sold-out show held in Tokyo
-
BLUM marks 30 years of Japanese contemporary art in AmericaBLUM will take ‘Thirty Years: Written with a Splash of Blood’ to its New York space in September 2024, continuing its celebration of Japanese contemporary art in America
-
Heads up: art exhibitions to see in January 2024Start the year right with the Wallpaper* pick of art exhibitions to see in January 2024
-
Olafur Eliasson inaugurates Azabudai Hills Gallery in TokyoOlafur Eliasson marks launch of Azabudai Hills Gallery, in Tokyo’s major new district, with a show of elemental strength
-
Takashi Murakami on his monsterizing San Francisco showTakashi Murakami tells us of pandemic-inspired creatures, eye-popping flowers, and NFTs as he explains the making of his exhibition at Asian Art Museum in San Francisco
