Memories wander here and there at Ginza Maison Hermès
Akira Yamaguchi
Painter
A replica of a scarf design next to the 2nd floor checkout
At the risk of singing my own praises, in 2020 I was given the opportunity to create an artwork, Les Artisans d’Hermès, to serve as the basis of an Hermès Carré scarf. In the centre is an image of a man atop a fantastical vehicle that looks like a horse combined with a motorcycle. On the sides are images of Hermès artisans at work. The picture is anachronistic, as if an artist from 19th-century Japan tried to record his observations of a modern-day country but could not help but incorporate the elements and aesthetic of his own time. Men and women with traditional Japanese hairstyles work at various tasks, their kimono sleeves tied up and out of the way. While preparing to paint this piece, I visited Hermès’s silk workshop in France, where I was inspired to depict the craftspeople I saw there at work. The Hermès colourists adapted my painting into a few different colour schemes, which resulted in several wonderful scarves with distinct colour variations. A print of the original painting is hung inconspicuously on the wall by the checkout counter on the 2nd floor, so please take a look if you are interested.
※Japanese Audio only
Les Artisans D'Hermès
Staircase railings and glass blocks in shades of grey
The staircases that connect each floor of Ginza Maison Hermès run adjacent to the building’s glass block façade. Their railings are covered in hand-stitched leather (how extravagant!) in a gentle, elegant shade of grey (at Hermès, they call it taupe). When seen in combination with the dark grey edges of the thick glass and the metalwork connecting the glass blocks, the staircases look as if they are composed of many different grey tones. As your eyes move from the colourful hues of the products in the store to these greys, your first impression might be that the greys are faintly complementary of those more vivid colours. But soon, you notice the comforting neutrality of the greys. They give your eyes a rest, soothing your nerves.
※Japanese Audio only
Eyes wander, flâneur-like, across glass blocks
While the glass blocks making up the façade of Ginza Maison Hermès give a sense of the scenery outside, up close, the mottled colours arrayed across the glass surfaces resolve into images of their own. What would normally be recognizable as a landscape, car, or person becomes indistinct, having metamorphosed into something nameless. Even as I shift my gaze, the shapes evaporate just before they might come together into a cohesive image, and all my eyes see is the indefinable. I let my eyes wander across the glass blocks, taking in something that I could never have anticipated if I hadn’t taken a closer look.
※Japanese Audio only
Three months of overnights at Le Forum
In 2012, I held a solo exhibition at Le Forum, the gallery on the 8th floor. I had tried my hand at a 6.6-meter-wide bird’s-eye view of Tokyo, titled Tokio Shan Shui / Tokyo Landscapes 2012, in the style of rakuchu rakugaizu byobu, or folding screens depicting the scenery in and around Kyoto. But the day of the exhibition opening arrived before I could finish it. So, for about three months—even during the exhibition period—I came here every night, art supplies in hand, to paint through the night and then return home in the morning. I have so many memories of that time—my apprehension at walking through the empty building to go to the bathroom in the dead of night, the midnight snacks and drinks that the staff left for me in the small fridge in the staff area of the gallery, and the friendly words from the security guards in the middle of the night and the cleaning crew when morning came. I can still picture how the glass blocks blurred the red, yellow, and orange of the neon lights at Fujiya, the sweets shop across the street. As the night wore on and the neon lights went out, it felt as if I had been left behind.
Akira Yamaguchi
Yamaguchi is known for applying his subtle techniques and profound knowledge of Japanese art history and Yamato-e painting to craft images that interlace everyday life and fantasy. The painter became the 12th recipient of the Hideo Kobayashi Prize in 2013. His collaborations with Hermès include a 2012 solo exhibition at Le Forum, the gallery at Ginza Maison Hermès, and Les Artisans d’Hermès, a work commissioned for a Carré scarf released in 2020.
Photo: Yohei Sogabe
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