AG Gallery is pleased to announce its presentation of a new handmade jewelry collection by KAGAKUYA starting July 2025. Kagakua is a collection of jewelry made inspired by science by an artist born and raised in Japan currently based in Boston, whose specialty is science. The unique molecular structures are the core identity of this emerging brand. AG Gallery will showcase original jewelry by Kagakuya starting from July 2025, curated by the gallery director. They will be available at AG Gallery in the physical store and soon on the gallery’s official online store.
The handmade pieces at AG Gallery and About Glamour store are selected by the gallery director, Natsumi Kitano. If you have any questions about the latest available pieces or an order-made request, please contact: natsumi@aboutglamour.net
ABOUT KAGAKUYA & Creator Behind Kagakuya:
Yuzuru Kanda was born and raised in Japan. He moved to the US in 2015, and now works at a pharmaceutical company in Boston. Alongside his scientific career, Yuzuru is the owner of a chemistry jewelry brand, Kagakuya driven by his passion for the beauty of molecular structures. Inspired by the hidden artistry of organic molecules, Yuzuru wanted to transform this invisible beauty to wearable art. Yuzuru’s mission is to show a new appreciation for the artistic side of chesmitry that is not just about equations, but also about creativity and beauty, challenging the perception that it is a dull subject.
Diesl-Alder Reaction
Diels-Alder reaction is a 100-year-old reaction that Diesl and Alder discovered. This powerful reaction won Novel prize in 1950 and is still widely used in synthetic labs. This jewelry represents a transition state of the four-carbon piece (left), combining with the two-carbon piece (right) to form a six-carbon ring. Although this 4+2 = 6 type reaction looks uncomplicated, the reaction proceeds well in reality only with careful substrate design. The one shown here is the almost perfect combination of reaction partners and gives a very clean reaction.
Corrin
Corrin is a core motif found in vitamin B12. The beauty of the corrin ring is its highly asymmetric structure. The left side of the molecule lacks some double bonds, and it lacks one of the bridging carbons. The middle pearl represents cobalt, which is an essential metal found in vitamin B12. The name corrin derives from the fact it was found in the core of vitamin B12.
2-Butene
But-2-enes are the simplest alkene exhibiting E/Z-isomerism; one isomer has terminal carbons on the same side, and the other does on the opposite side. Their boiling points are so close to each other that the separation of two isomers is virtually impossible, yet their physical properties are similar enough that rigorous separation is not necessary in most cases.
Polyisoprene
Polyisoprene is a string of isoprene. The chain represents the bonds between each monomer. Polyisoprene is one of the most common rubber materials. It is robust towards abrasive force and is often used for car tires and shoe soles. Unlike natural rubber latex, synthetic rubber polyisoprene is gentle on the skin and unlikely to cause allergic reactions.
AG Gallery is pleased to announce that a new group exhibition is opening soon at AG Gallery. We are showing the artworks of three Japanese artists from our past exhibitions. Artists: Saiki Otsuka (Tokyo, Japan) , Ward Yoshimoto (Brooklyn, USA), and Hiromi Machida(Yamanashi, Japan). This will be the last chance to see their older artworks, so please visit us and enjoy the exhibition.
This exhibition is curated by Natsumi Kitano, Gallery Director. If you have any questions or inquiries about an artwork, please contact natsumi@aboutglamour.net
The artworks will be also available at the AG Gallery’s Official Online Store as well.
May 4, 2019 ~ June 2, 2019 Opening Reception: Saturday, May 4, 6-8PM
AG Gallery is pleased to announce its new exhibition “Reborn” by Brooklyn based hat artist Miki Katagiri. The Exhibition, Reborn, introduces her creations with various topics from different periods of time. Katagiri and the curator worked together to install Katagiri’s topical hats in a random order in the gallery space so that the new meanings and connections appear in the installation. All the visitors are welcomed and given freedom to find their own unique connections between the each topical hats. The exhibition is opening on May 4, 2019 and it will be on view through Sunday, June 2, 2019. Please join us for the opening reception and meet the artist on Saturday, May 4, 6-8PM.
Miki Katagiri lives and works in New York since 1989. Miki Katagiri has over 18 years of designing and making topical hats. The subjects that she creates works about are environment, nature, politics, and the universe. They may seem separate subjects but are all connected in real life and in her work. Her work has been presented in galleries in New York, New Jersey in the United States, and Tokyo in Japan.
After many years of working with a renowned hat designer, Patricia Underwood, Katagiri is now giving workshops in her studio in Williamsburg, and taking custom orders.
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Imagine how everything is interconnected, Take care to be nicer to each other…. Nothing is eternal, everything passes. Itʼs a person’s choice how to spend life. “Clean the cup (which is full) and put clear water in the cup.” Hope refreshes us to restart again, Reborn
–Miki Katagiri
AG Gallery will host a live jazz music at next Second Friday Gallery Walk Night on May 10, 2019. We will invite the New York based jazz Band of Yoshiki Miura. The event is free and the live performance will be around 6pm to 8pm.
AG Gallery is pleased to announce a new exhibition with artist Rica TASAKA “Embroidered NY”, openng on August 18, 2017.
Rica TASAKA is a Japanese artist who explores washi as an art medium like oil paints and clay. Tasaka’s works are made completely with only embroider and Washi-paper collage. Tasaka collects images from around the world. Based on snapshots pictures she shot in cities she visited she creates her washi-art. Tasaka explores everyday subjects in her work that make us rediscover joys and happiness that lives in small parts of our daily life in a specific location of the world.
In this exhibition Tasaka created NYC landscape series using pictures and sketches of her visit to NYC last year as inspirations. We suggest gallery visitors to get extra closer to artworks this time, and see the details. They look like illustrations at a first sight but actually collaged paper and stitchings that make those “snapshot-like” pictures.
Exhibition is on view through August 24th, 2017. Please visit the gallery and enjoy how NYC was like to a visiting artist, you may discover something similar or different from what you know.
Statement and Message from Artist
I was born and raised in the bustling, food-centered city of Osaka, Japan in 1974.
I spent my childhood creating unique works of art using everyday items I found around the house. Later in life, I entered the Life Design Department at the Kyoto Saga University of Arts. While at the university, I designed furniture and various other household goods. After graduating in 1995, I worked at a company as an interior designer.
During that time I started working on my own art and in the process found traditional Japanese washi paper which totally changed my work. Washi paper has special textures that I can’t express using just paint. The texture and the hand-torn edges of the paper absorb and dissipate the ink in a way that makes each piece unique. I also embroider directly on the washi paper to give my work a three-dimensional texture and a visual rhythm as a single piece of art based on everyday life.
I resigned from my company in 2000 and became a freelance illustrator. I did illustrations in various media, as I actively worked on creating solo exhibitions. In 2015, I held my first public exhibition at the Karuizawa New Art Museum in Nagano. Then I had my first exhibit in Brooklyn, New York.
Coming to New York in 2017, greatly expanded my experience and style. The overwhelming energy of the city exhibited in its food, people, and lively culture caused me to explore a sense of movement and irregularity in my art. This has added power in addition to the sense of healing which was present in my previous work.
I hope that whoever sees my art feels like they have made a small discovery in their lives and it causes them to smile. That’s what keeps me going as an artist.
Kyoko Imazu One Window Exhibition
June 3, 2017 ~ June 30, 2017
Opening Reception: June 3 (Sat.) 6-8pm
AG Gallery is proud to present “Still-Summer”, a one window exhibition by Kyoko Imazu. Imazu is Japanese artist, printmaker and sculptor, living and working in Australia. She is mostly known for her printmaking and her work has been featured in multiple solo and group exhibitions museums and galleries including Kyoto Museum of Art in Kyoto, Japan, Japan Foundation Gallery win Sydney Australia, Odd One Out in Hong Kong, Davidson Galleries in Seattle, USA, and many more. Imazu has been featured at AG Gallery since 2014, and this is her second solo exhibition at AG Gallery after “World of Kyoko Imazu” in 2015.
“Drawing animals and monsters is one of my earliest and most important memories from my childhood. My drawings include animals like rabbits, cats and birds and also strange creatures, Yokai from Japanese folklore. Growing up in Japan, I was convinced—and very scared—that there were Yokai and other creatures lurking behind me and or hiding in the dark corners of the house. They were as real as dogs and cats.” -Kyoko Imazu
Moving to Australia from Japan as a young adult, Kyoko’s work draws narratives from nostalgic memories of childhood in Japan and features insects, animals and Yokai found throughout Japanese folklore that she read and listened to as a child. Her ceramics bring new life to her two dimensional realm of prints and into reality–the ‘real world’ becomes the playground for her adorable creatures.
“Still-Summer” is AG Gallery’s first one window exhibition, featuring Kyoko Imazu’s latest sculptures and her latest original prints.
This exhibition is inspired with the term “still-life”, the still of the summer night, deep silence and calm; stillness… that brings her imaginative creatures into our realm, quietly awaiting visitors in our gallery.
Still-Summer
AG Gallery 
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