55 Sunrises

The iconic painting series by Sho Shibuya grew from a single, meditative painting to a pop-up art gallery on Miami Beach during Art Basel.

I've had the privilege of working with Sho through his studio Placeholder a number of times over the years. When he first painted a tranquil blue square on top of the front cover of the New York Times in March 2020, I was immediately struck by its optimism and significance. His painting series resonated with the public, and grew into a number of exhibits and commercial adaptations, like this project.

In this edition, Yves Saint Laurent built a public gallery on South Beach during Art Basel to host his work, and the centerpiece of the gallery was a commissioned piece celebrating the 55th anniversary of the Saint Laurent Rive Gauche store, the first ready-to-wear store by a major fashion couturier. Sho and I developed the concept together, with the unique commissioned diptych featuring two of his signature sunrise-style gradients on top of two authentic New York Times front pages: one from the 55th anniversary, and one from the day the store opened, on a reprinted newspaper. It dovetails with the broader message of his Sunrise from a Small Window series: that despite that chaos in the news, whether it’s the front page of the newspaper or a social media feed, the beauty of the world, of the sunrise, will always remain — as beautiful 55 years ago as it is today.

Press

Vogue: Saint Laurent and Artist Sho Shibuya Join Forces at Art Basel Miami

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