Sho Shibuya – Falling from the Sky at Unit, London, August 2025 – Needed to jump on the ever wonderful Lizzy Line and get over to Bond Street, needed to take the time out to just go see these paintings in the flesh as soon as possible, early in the afternoon on the day directly after the private view where hopefully the gallery will be mostly empty in terms of people being in the way or the art. Really wanted to see a whole gallery full of these rather beautifully quiet daily pieces of work from the Japanese artist (I do like a daily piece of work)    

“Since 2020, Sho Shibuya has maintained a daily painting practice that begins each morning at sunrise. Whether at home in New York or travelling abroad, the artist wakes up early to collect the day’s newspaper – often the New York Times or local equivalents – before covering its front page with a representation of the day’s weather. These paintings, created in response to the morning sky, are part of an ongoing visual diary, capturing the fleeting light and mood of each new day”.

And here they are, quietly, almost politely, regimentally lined up in identical unassuming white frames and now I think about it I’m really kicking myself for not looking at the dates on each copy of the New York Times – all the paintings in this particular show are on identically sized copies of the Times, the uniformity certainly adds to the impact of the exhibition as one whole body, as one thing, as one piece of work even. Would this exhibition and collection work so well if these paintings were (just) on canvas? They probably would, there is something in rather carefully beautiful (dare I sat simple) way each day’s weather is painted, the newspaper and what the headline might be now hidden under the paint? did he consider an adjacent untouched copy of the newspaper next to that day’s painted on front page?  I like that the Times carries a small weather forecast next to the masthead, I like that there’s a painting from Christmas day, a rare day off for newsagents in this country, we don’t have newspapers on Christmas Day here…        

“While many of the works depict glowing, expansive sunrises, Falling from the Sky turns its gaze toward a more contemplative subject: rain. For Shibuya, rainy days offer a particular kind of beauty; as raindrops roll down window panes, or are pushed along them by strong winds, they form delicate ever-changing patterns that give renewed meaning to ideas of ephemerality and idiosyncrasy. These patterns, recorded through photographs and transformed into painted compositions, are at once meditative and spontaneous”.

There are emotions here, a resonance, some people might like rainfall more than others, I guess it depends where you are both physically and mentally? What your own routine is, how your own memories are formed? There is, rather obviously, memory here, routine, maybe even a fragility in the process? Sho Shibuya began his sunrise series in April 2020, a quiet routine, he notes that rain often helps anchor our most vivid personal memories – such as the day he met his wife, both of them stepping into a Japanese restaurant during a downpour, umbrellas in hand. For him, rain slows time, invites reflection, and offers moments of intimacy with the world – “These paintings aim to preserve that sensation: the shimmer of light transformed through glass and water, and the subtle chromaticism found in grey skies”. There’s something, I want to say engaging, bit it isn’t that, serene? dignified? Certainly beautiful and yes, the fact that this is a daily process, that does make you want to know more about what was happening that day? These pieces, whatever the weather, appear quiet, gentle, at ease and you really don’t need the artist’s own words to prompt you into thinking about what else might have been happening that day while you contemplate the beauty of weather’s colour, of skies, of rai,. of the sound of rain, you do wonder, without the artist’s statement to prompt you, what else might have been happening that day.   

“In other parts of the world, the sky is not gentle. It’s not rain that falls, but bombs. The same gray clouds that comfort me here cast shadows of fear elsewhere. Where I see beauty, others see smoke. Destruction. Silence broken not by soft drops, but by blasts. That contrast stays with me. These paintings are not just invitations to pause and reflect, but reminders of what peace looks like. And how fragile it is.”

This is a beautiful exhibition, a quietly powerful art show, a delicious collection of paintings, of thoughts, of days, of light and dark and rain and light, it is a show that invites (rather than demands) the viewer pauses and considers, that “invites viewers to pause and consider what remains long after the clouds have passed”.  

This is a highly recommended exhibition. Falling from the Sky is on until 21st September 2025  (sw)

Unit is at 3 Hanover Square, Mayfair, London, W1S 1HD – Just over the square from Bond Street railway/undergroud station. The highly polished very glossy gallery is open Tuesday through to Saturday, 10am until 7pm (6pm on Saturdays, 5pm on Fridays). The exhibition is on until 21st September 2025  

As always do please click on an image to see the whole thing or to run the slide show….