EUGENE STUDIO / Eugene Kangawa

Eugene Kangawa / EUGENE STUDIO
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.
Installation view EUGENE STUDIO After the rainbow

Viewable archive: 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.

Announcement of the permanent museum Eugene Museum in Bali (scheduled to open to the public in 2026).

We are pleased to inform you that, with the invaluable efforts and proposals from our supporters across various regions, the permanent museum “Eugene Museum in Bali,” dedicated to the works of Eugene Kangawa/Eugene Studio, will be constructed in Bali, Indonesia. Construction is scheduled to commence this summer.

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.

Publish

Catalog: Eugene i, ii, iii
EUGENE iii Goldrain
EUGENE ii Rainbow & White (tentative)
EUGENE i Image/imagine 想像 & Light and shadow inside me
Catalog: EUGENE STUDIO After the rainbow Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo
Official booklet by Bijutsu Techo and Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo
Catalog: special edition 1/2 Century later. Shiseido Gallery, 2017

An interview by the Eugene Museum in Bali. Architect Andra Matin and artist Eugene Kangawa discuss the concepts and materials, with new perspective sketches, at Eugene’s atelier and home. (This video was recorded in May 2024, published in September 2024.)

News: Popular posts

Light and shadow inside me, 2021–

Light and shadow inside me with the sun, 2021–
Aqueous dye on paper

This series features gradations created by allowing bright green water-based dye to fade in a very specific way.
First, the dye is applied to a sheet of paper. The sheet is then folded into a prism, which is exposed to the sun over a period of weeks or months. The faces on the prism that receive the most sunlight fade dramatically, while those that remained largely in shadow remain a vivid green. The paper is then unfolded to reveal the finished gradation.
As the title hints, it is the prisms themselves that create the shadows, but the factors that cause the resulting gradations are not easy to imagine when the sheet of paper is unfolded and displayed as a flat work. This series is a pointed reminder that our way of comprehending existence unavoidably becomes multifaceted through environment and circumstance.

Quoted from a handout of “EUGENE STUDIO After the rainbow” (by Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, 2021)

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

Goldrain, 2019
Gold leaf, particles

Goldrain, 2019

Particles of gold and silver silently and endlessly pour down. This sculpture moves in a phenomenal way—entirely different from water or dust. It has the same silhouette but never looks the same. The work was exhibited in natural light in Paris and darkness at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo.

“...The serene space that leads to deep contemplation of things that exist there but is not visible, unpredictable things that cannot be controlled by human knowledge, is oblivious to time and a sight to behold.” by Web Taiyo
〈The fertile imaginative possibilities presented by the serene space〉
Read full story

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’]).”

Eugene Kangawa /
EUGENE STUDIO

Eugene Kangawa () was born in the United States in 1989. Known for his abstract and large-scale paintings and installations, his past exhibitions and installations 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, 1/2 Century later (2017) at Shiseido Gallery, Tokyo, 89+ Project (2014) at the Serpentine Gallery, etc.
The solo exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo and past activities have led to the creation of a permanent museum, the “Eugene Museum,” in Bali (Indonesia) in 2026, with offers and support from various regions.

(Quoting from “Eugene Museum in Bali” by museum management team →)
“Eugene Kangawa (1989-) is a Japanese contemporary artist, known for his sophisticated and astounding approach in paintings, large-scale installations. His works include unique social projects with past works aimed at children and education. Particularly well known for his solo exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, where Eugene set a record as the youngest ever artist to hold a solo exhibition, and drawing record long queue. Maintaining its momentum from the past exhibitions, the growing support and expectations from a diverse range of communities and collectors from Indonesia and beyond have culminated in the development of this permanent museum.”

In addition, in the past, he was invited to participate in various research and development projects in the fields of artificial intelligence, agriculture, and biotechnology, etc. 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. Furthermore, two short films have been selected as Official Selection or won awards at several film festivals, including the Brooklyn Film Festival, Urbanworld Film Festival, Pan African Film Festival, Houston International Film Festival, and others.

EUGENE STUDIO / Eugene Kangawa