Katsuya Kamo was a brilliant artist who created what he called “head sculptures” for runway shows for Junya Watanabe, Jun Takahashi’s Undercover, and Anrealage. He also occasionally worked with Chanel and Haider Ackermann. You have seen his iconic pieces that contributed to the overall image and runway awe of those brands even if you did not know Kamo’s name.
If you were lucky, as I was, to be in Tokyo in the past two weeks, you would’ve had a chance to see the first comprehensive exhibit of Kamo’s work, Kamo Head at Omotesando Hills, a shopping complex in Aoyama. Of 400 objects exhibited, over 250 were Kamo’s brilliant head pieces made from seemingly anything he could find lying around his studio, from cardboard to papier mache, to shattered mirrors, and of course, human hair.
Kamo’s brilliance is hard to describe, it needs to be seen. He passed away several years ago from cancer, and this exhibit was therefore postponed until the end of the Covid-19 pandemic. It was a privilege to be able to create a photo essay for you. We hope that it will transport you to the exhibit itself and to Kamo’s world.
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All photography by Eugene Rabkin. These images may not be reproduced without expressed permission.