Within 35 days, covering over 7000 kilometers, crossing 47 prefectures in Japan, documenting 50 gradient moments of day and night – this is the work of Japanese graphic designer and artist Sho Shibuya.
Charming sky reappears on old newspapers
These masterpieces of the sky are all personally sourced and documented by Yukari Shibuya. Imagine him following and capturing the sunrise of the day, then going to buy the newspaper of the day, feeling seamless.
Tracing the first light of Sho Shibuya’s creative career, that was the 2020 pandemic. Currently based in New York, Sho Shibuya spent his days during the lockdown watching the changing shadows of the sky outside. Quietly observing the different sunrise lights, Sho Shibuya was inspired and began documenting the sunrise each day, painting with plastic colors on the front page of the newspaper of that day, starting from a small square on the newspaper, and eventually becoming a whole page.
The clear sky under the pen covers the chaotic news of the day, creating a strong contrast. And this “front page work” (i.e. series work “Sunrises from a small window”) has also received a huge response on social media, becoming a representative work of Shibuya Sho, continuing to this day.
In fact, the inspiration of Shibuya Sho is not only the gradient colors of the sunrise, but also has painted daily life in “front page works”, reflecting political and social situations, such as when the United States began vaccinating against COVID-19, Shibuya Sho painted two OK bandages; on the day when the electronic music group 傻瓜龐克 (Daft Punk) announced their dissolution, Shibuya Sho used a half-broken mirror with gold to pay tribute to them.
Even on the day of the death of the legendary Japanese designer Issey Miyake, 涉谷翔 incorporated Miyake’s world-renowned “pleating” technique into his “headline work” as a tribute and final salute.
This sunrise, like its own meaning, welcomes a new beginning, bringing anticipation, excitement, and emotion, also opening up a new milestone for Shibuya Xiang.
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“FIFTY SKY VIEWS OF JAPAN”
And this new series of works, “FIFTY SKY VIEWS OF JAPAN,” was invited by the fashion brand Cartier to celebrate its 50th anniversary in Japan, and was exhibited at the Tokyo National Museum’s exhibition “A Half-Century of Cartier in Japan and Beyond.”
This series, created by Sho Shibuya, took 35 days to complete and spanned across all 47 prefectures of Japan. Across 50 paintings, it not only documents the unique landscapes of each prefecture and day, but also reinterprets contemporary ukiyo-e. Sho Shibuya stated that this is a tribute to ukiyo-e master Hiroshige Utagawa and his series “The Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō”.
The momentary sunrise represents vitality and is a symbol of hope, even the Impressionist artist Claude Monet (1840-1926) used sunrise as the theme of his paintings, fascinated by the amazing changes in the light of sunrise and sunset.
If you feel confused or sad, why not look up at the morning light on the horizon, feel the heat and excitement brought by the sun.
Feedback: @shoshibuya
“A Half-Century of Cartier in Japan and Beyond”
Location: Tokyo National Museum, 13-9 Ueno Koen, Taito-ku, Tokyo 110-8712
Date: June 12, 2024 – July 28, 2024
Time: 9:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (Fri – Sat open until 7 pm)
