Vortex

544 pages strong, Kikuji Kawada’s Vortex consists of images selected from the vast amount of works uploaded by the 89-year old Kawada to his Instagram account in the past years. It is at the same time a condensation of the artist’s refined, sharp vision of the contemporary world as well as a culmination of the unparalleled sensibilities and awareness towards urban chaos that have defined Kawada’s remarkable career since the release of his celebrated photobook Map in 1965.

The book blends photographs recently shot in Kawada’s home of Tokyo with works taken and exhibited decades ago. The city lost in the midst of a pandemic, drowning in the gushing chaos of its physical and sociological structures.

The book includes three essays (The Late Style of a Photographer by photography historian Yoshiaki Kai, Everything was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt by curator Pauline Vermare, and The Realness of the Virtual by artist Akiyoshi Taniguchi) in English language, adding further insight and context on the artist Kikuji Kawada and his body of work.