Whitestone Gallery Taipei is pleased to present UNDER EDITING: Kohei Kyomori Solo Exhibition. Long known for exploring the essence of “decoration” through his artistic practice, KYOMORI focuses on the relationship between decoration and the self this time. He regards “decoration” as an act of both “decorating the self” and “concealing the self”, and in this case, the self is not a fixed image but is continually edited by the self in the present. The exhibition will be on view from October 3 through November 14, 2026, with an opening reception on October 3 at 4 p.m., attended by the artist. Whitestone Gallery Taipei is also pleased to collaborate with Bar Pine, a Da’an District bar known for bringing together cocktails, art, and culture, to present the “Kohei Kyomori-Inspired Cocktails”. The cocktail menu will be available at Bar Pine throughout the exhibition period.

Kohei Kyomori, "Self Decoration #13" 2026, Canvas, acrylic, resin, mineral pigments, resin, washi paper, 60.0 × 50.0 × 4.0 cm

Kohei Kyomori (b. 1985) was born and raised in a dairy-farming family in the suburbs of Ehime, Japan. A sense of alienation from his upbringing led him, from a young age, to aspire toward fashion, design, and art—urban systems of values that seemed entirely different from his own background. He studied design and fashion in Tokyo before earning a master’s degree from Istituto Marangoni in Milan. After returning to Japan, he became active in fashion, graphic design, and illustration, and in 2020 received the Grand Prix du Carré Hermès. His practice gradually expanded from design into fine art. KYOMORI’s works are characterized by intricate decorative motifs drawn from diverse historical and cultural contexts, spanning East and West, past and present, combined with vivid colors. He frequently works with mineral pigments and resin, creating surfaces that extend beyond the flat picture plane through layers of relief-like accumulation, while retaining a fluid, glaze-like quality.

“To adorn. To refine. To embellish. Perhaps this has never simply been a matter of taste, but an attempt to rewrite oneself.” — Kohei Kyomori

At his 2025 solo exhibition Decorative Man at Whitestone Ginza New Gallery, KYOMORI revisited his own background and explored how “decoration” can become an act of constructing self-identity. He subsequently became aware of a sense of unease arising from the act of “turning oneself into a story and repeatedly telling it” when speaking about the past. It is as though the present self edits a past that was originally ambiguous, contradictory, and fragmented into an ostensibly coherent image, fixing the existence of a complex and multifaceted self within a single narrative. Yet, with each act of expression comes a different set of choices, allowing different versions of the story to emerge: “While talking about ourselves, we are also editing ourselves. Decoration, memory, narration, and the construction of the self—these seemingly different acts all begin from the self in the present, actions through which we continually reassign meaning to the world and to the past and continue editing the story we called ‘the self.’”

Kohei Kyomori, "M 1432 F" 2026, Canvas, mineral pigments, resin, mixed media, 80.0 × 60.0 × 4.0 cm

This idea forms the basis of the Self Decoration series, the central body of works in the present exhibition. The patterns have become increasingly intricate, while the colors take on a deeper and more luxurious character. Through resin, metal leaf, mineral pigments, layered surfaces, and an uncompromising pursuit of craftsmanship, the works do not directly express an inner self. Instead, their surfaces embody the self as something continuously generated, accumulated, and renewed through acts of “self-decoration.” The exhibition also presents the M and T/R series. The M series takes its name from “Majesty,” with figures adorned with medals, weapons, tattoos, and jewelry that signify identity and strength. The T/R series draws on “Triumph” and “Rob,” presenting complex narratives centered around treasures. A monumental site-specific installation occupies a significant portion of the first-floor exhibition space, where objects and fragments of the past are placed and recombined.

The second floor presents a markedly different atmosphere, constructed through black-and-white photographs and installations. The works include photographs taken at KYOMORI’s family home, reworked by covering the images with letters and collage. The Murky, Smelly Memories series uses resin to encase memories that once carried their own distinct odors. In the Covered Remains series, remnants are covered and transformed, repositioned within the present as traces of the past are reconsidered.

UNDER EDITING ultimately presents the self as a state that can never be fully completed. We continually edit our memories, adding, concealing, emphasizing, and removing as we construct different versions of ourselves. These ever-changing and intricate “appearances” are not fixed results but continue to emerge through lived experience and personal choice.