sho shibuya's sunrise paintings infuse saint laurent ephemeral gallery with calming tones

sho shibuya paints gradient sunrises for saint laurent rive droite

on the occasion of the art basel miami 2021 comeback, saint laurent rive droite has launched an ephemeral gallery housing an exhibition of works by japanese artist sho shibuya. commissioned by the brand’s creative director anthony vaccarello, the display includes a new series of paintings called ’55 sunrises’ to celebrate the 55th anniversary of the french house’s first paris boutique.

shibuya gained widespread popularity during the 2020 lockdown, thanks to his captivating ‘sunrises from a small window’ series, where he painted gradient sunrises onto the new york times as a creative way to document the days spent at home.

all images courtesy of sho shibuya

calming sunrise tones float seamlessly in an all-white gallery

dubbed ’55 sunrises’, this exhibition is the first time that shibuya’s works have been showcased publicly altogether. lined up at the same height and mounted in identical white frames, the abstract paintings appear to float seamlessly in the all-white gallery interior. the pieces are ordered chronologically between august 14, 2020 and august 21, 2021, depicting the changing colors of the sky throughout the day — from pale blue morning tones to pink shades of twilight and dazzling orange-yellow hues of midday. all paintings present the artist’s signature calming, contemplative character.

these 55 paintings are now on display in the saint laurent rive droite stores. each store will present a different and unique collection: 27 artworks will be presented in the paris store and 28 artworks in the los angeles store. the paintings will be available for sale.

for this exhibition, the artist also created two new works, inspired by the original rive droite logo as well as the brand’s optimistic color palette of 1966. in the first piece, two brightly colored squares sit atop one another against a new york times paper dating back to september 29, 1966 — the day that the fashion house’s very first rive gauche ready-to-wear boutique opened on paris’s right bank. the second artwork present a gradient blend of the bright red and pink tones, while the date reads september 29, 2021. the two new pieces are available for purchase on yves saint laurent’s website, in the form of posters, tee-shirts, and tote bags.