Paris is alive with artistic energy this week, as exhibitions and events multiply in the lead-up to and throughout Art Basel. Amid this culture-rich moment, collaborations between creative disciplines are particularly exciting—none more so than the partnership between A-POC ABLE ISSEY MIYAKE and contemporary artist Eugene Kangawa. Their latest project, the TYPE-XIV Eugene Studio initiative, brings Kangawa’s signature Light and shadow inside me series into the realm of textiles and clothing.
Founded in 2021 by Yoshiyuki Miyamae, former designer for Issey Miyake, A-POC ABLE ISSEY MIYAKE, or “a piece of cloth,” sits at the forefront of textile innovation, exploring the possibilities contained within a single piece of fabric. The brand’s focus on detail and materiality aligns naturally with Kangawa’s work, which transforms simple elements into complex narratives—most notably, light and shadow.
The installation, located in Paris’ 3rd arrondissement, showcases how Kangawa’s exploration of light and shadow is realised in woven form. Gradation is achieved not through pigment but by varying the density of black and white threads, creating textiles that feel almost computational in their precision—a “fabric at the bit level,” as the brand describes it.
Kangawa’s black-and-white photographic works provide the conceptual foundation for the collaboration. The series juxtaposes turquoise-hued pieces, created through sun exposure, with black-and-white works made on silver-based paper using photogram techniques. In the latter, a single sheet of paper is folded into a three-dimensional form in a darkroom and exposed to a solitary light source. The resulting gradations of light and shadow, achieved with nothing more than paper and illumination, capture what Kangawa calls the “light and shadow inherent in the very existence of objects,” setting the philosophical framework for the textile reinterpretation.
Visitors can also view the tools used in production and participate in a hands-on workshop, offering a direct encounter with the techniques behind the work and a deeper understanding of its subtle intricacy. The installation runs from 24th to 26th October and is certainly not to be missed.
