Exploration of the Tension between Disorder and Harmony

Jun Takahashi's Solo Exhibition "Peaceable Kingdom" to be held at WKM GALLERY in HongKong from October 25 to December 14, 2024. While Takahashi is a well-known founder of clothing brand UNDERCOVER, he has kept creating paintings for many decades. 

Jun Takahashi, Lonely Man, 2024, Oil on canvas, 100 x 100 x 4.5 cm, 39 37/100 x 39 37/100 x 1 77/100 in, (JT_0009).
Courtesy of the artist and WKM Gallery

Featuring all-new works, including the first public showing of 3 canvases that were used as central motifs in his S/S 2025 Men’s Collection, Peaceable Kingdom is a portrayal of the conflict between the chaos of today’s world and the artist’s own deep desire for peace.

Jun Takahashi, Room of abandonment, 2024, Oil on canvas, 100 x 100 x 2.5 cm, 39 37/100 x 39 37/100 x 49/50 in, (JT_0011).
Courtesy of the artist and WKM Gallery

Jun Takahashi, Future Days, 2024, Oil on canvas, Framed, 48.6 x 41 x 6.7 cm, 19 13/100 x 16 7/50 x 2 16/25 in, (JT_0002).
Courtesy of the artist and WKM Gallery

Jun Takahashi, Poison Apples, 2024, Oil on canvas, 162 x 130 x 4.5 cm, 63 39/50 x 51 9/50 x 1 77/100 in, (JT_0008).
Courtesy of the artist and WKM Gallery

The exhibition is composed of distorted portraits and abstract figures in dream-like landscapes, many dotted with apples and clouds, both recurring motifs in the show. While the apples – bleeding into puddles of red, floating into space, or disappearing into invisibility – seem to represent the complicated, interconnected nature of innocence and decay, the clouds offer an overtone of hope that permeates the entire exhibition. Both objects make appearances in many of Takahashi’s cinematic portraits. While some of the figures reference dystopian fiction and eerie settings, echoing the underlying theme of psychological turmoil and existential dread, others represent people from his own daily life, juxtaposing subcultural references with a more personal, intimate dimension. For decades, he has blurred the lines between the beautiful and the grotesque, and this exhibition continues his profound exploration into the human psyche.

Jun Takahashi

Born 1969 in Gunma, Japan. Jun Takahashi is an artist and internationally renowned fashion designer of pioneering label UNDERCOVER, known for his crucial role in the 90s Ura-Hara streetwear movement as well as for his prolific and critically acclaimed work in high fashion. Takahashi’s eclectic vision, often described as dark and surreal, stems from a fundamentally “anti” attitude that weaves together a rebellious punk style and ethos with encyclopaedic music and art references in an aim to dethrone the orthodox. The fashion brand’s undying status as a cult favourite for the past three decades has cemented Takahashi as one of Japan’s most important contemporary creatives, and his pursuits in the fine arts remain closely intertwined with his work in fashion. Takahashi’s paintings mirror the core elements of his past creative work, reflecting
the uncanny and fantastical with a graphic sensibility that nods to the aesthetics of the various fringe cultures that have challenged ideas of beauty and convention.