été 10th Anniversary Exhibition  — To be held on July 24 – 25, 2024

Celebrating its 10th anniversary this summer, été will hold its 10th Anniversary Exhibition at Kaikai Kiki Gallery, presided over by artist Takashi Murakami, for two days from Wednesday, July 24 to Thursday, July 25. The special sponsor is Sky Co., LTD. which is involved in social contributions in the fields of community medicine and education, as well as support for disaster-stricken areas. The exhibition logo was created by VERDY, a longtime collaborator and beloved friend of Chef Shoji.

The exhibition will feature an installation created in collaboration with floral artist Mr. Azuma Makoto, with whom Chef Shoji has long been in contact. There will be nine boxes in the gallery, each displaying a cake or floral arrangement inspired by the theme of the cake. Enjoy to your heart's content the installation, which looks like a giant cake lined with fascinating flowers that transcend genres, and the distinctive visual story of each artwork.
　
We look forward to welcoming you to this exhibition, the culmination of 10 years of été and a tribute and appreciation to those who have supported us and the world of food.

During these two days, not only will the installation be on display, but there will also be special experiences for each day of the exhibition, a special 10th anniversary cake available for pre-order, and posters and card sets from the exhibition for sale. Please see to this article and the exhibition webpage for more information.

Venue: Kaikai Kiki Gallery
Address: B1F Crest Building, 2-3-30 Motoazabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Artist: Natsuko Shoji
Flower Arrangement: Azuma Makoto
Exhibition Logo: VERDY
Organization: Kaikai Kiki Gallery
Special Sponsorship: Sky Co., LTD.
Cooperation: Dom Pérignon

[ DAY1 ]
Date and time: 2024, July 24(Wed) 11:00 - 19:00 by appointment only
Special Program: Exhibits that can be tasted and felt with all five senses* - Click here for reservations
* An "edible exhibit" will be held where visitors can actually pick tarts and fruits from the installation and enjoy them with their five senses of sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch.

[ DAY2 ]
Date and time: 2024, July 25(Thu) 11:00 - 19:00 by Admission free
Special Program: Take home a special bag of flowers used in the installation*
* The bouquets created by Azuma's team will be placed in bags specially designed for this "flower distribution" event and taken home like a Fleurs d'été cake. Estimated start time is 15:00 on a first-come, first-served basis.
As a tribute to the exhibition, we will be accepting pre-orders for a plant-based version of one of été's origins and signature products, the Mango Tart. It will be packaged in special 10th anniversary packaging and will also come with an été x Girls Don't Cry collaborative keychain.Receiving date and time: 2024, July 25(Thu) 15:00 - 19:00
Advance Reservations: Please make a reservation via Omakase (Limited to 100)

Posters and card sets of artwork created in collaboration with Chef Shoji and floral artist Azuma Makoto will be available for purchase.



été is celebrating its 10th anniversary.
Although I had registered the opening day as July 25, for Natsuko’s day [as 7-2-5 could sound similar to “Na-tsu-ko”], to be honest the exact date remains uncertain since at the start I was filled with despair and utter misery.
However, a decade has swiftly passed since the creation of my now-iconic mango tart, and I have had the honor of welcoming numerous customers and friends. I have nothing but gratitude to everyone who has supported me along the way.
I have long pondered how to express this passion for creation that boils within me — a feverish passion that has driven me for over a decade, often accompanied by bouts of anger and regret.

Food becomes part of our flesh, blood, and body; likewise, the cycle of a flower blooming, withering, and returning to the earth is beautiful, sensual, and fleeting. I believe the common thread in all of this is that they are magnificent artforms infused with passion.

I strongly wished to present the culmination of my 10-year journey and to pay homage to the world of culinary arts, where I belong, and to those who have supported me. I am thrilled, then, to be showcasing my work in collaboration with Makoto Azuma’s JARDINS des FLEURS team and Takashi Murakami’s Kaikai Kiki Gallery. Additionally, we will unveil exclusive items featuring the 10th-anniversary logo designed by my dear friend and graphic artist, VERDY.
It is an exhibition fully infused with life and spirit that touches your heart, and I would be delighted to welcome many visitors.

We also sincerely thank Sky Co., Ltd. for your special sponsorship and support, including the future of the culinary industry. We will dedicate our lives to spreading Japan’s unique beauty to the world!
The sweets Chef Shoji of été creates are works of art: a beautiful mango tart modeled after rose petals; geometrically arranged strawberries and muscat grapes; and delicate cherry blossom candy sculptures scattered on cakes. In celebration of été’s 10th anniversary, we collaborated to produce ten works that blend her stunning cakes with my floral arrangements.
The ingredients she works with also have life, which is why they integrate so seamlessly into my works, which deal with natural life in the form of flowers. Chef Shoji is a fellow artisan who enhances the life entrusted to her by nature with human creativity and crafts works that bring joy and inspiration to others. I hope she continues to blaze her culinary trail and inspire many more.

We are officially holding Natsuko Shoji’s exhibition at Kaikai Kiki Gallery. She will have full creative freedom, and that makes this project a significant undertaking; our ace, Chiaki Kasahara, will produce it fully hands-on, inevitably turning it into a full-scale exhibition.
Kasahara is a seasoned professional who has been my—Takashi Murakami’s—producer for over 20 years. With her full involvement, I certainly expect this to become a major event.

Natsuko-san has often mentioned wanting to preserve food culture, which is hard to preserve, in a tangible form, obsessing with photographing. To be honest, I didn’t quite understand what she meant until a few weeks ago when I saw a particular photo and felt I finally got it. After discussing with Kasahara, we decided to rethink the exhibition around this concept. I believe the exhibition now has a solid core.

It’s self-evident that Natsuko Shoji excels in creating cakes and French cuisine, but she also possesses both the unique communication difficulties often associated with genius and an extraordinary sense of scale; I can relate to her in many ways. Given how challenging it is for someone with such genius traits to fit into Japanese society, I’m impressed at how well she navigates life here.
I believe that such geniuses shouldn’t be confined to Japan, that they should venture out into the world because working in other countries against the odds can polish their extraordinary talents further. The space where world-class talent can truly shine is a truly, furiously intense area, and there is a drastic difference between living constantly with that intensity and occasionally visiting abroad to do pop-ups, for instance.

I have repeatedly pushed this idea to her, but each time, she emphasized the importance of Japanese ingredients and the necessity of living in Japan in order to express Japanese culture. So I stopped bringing it up. But in truth, I still believe that she should establish another base abroad and actively experience all the challenges that come with it.

I do hope to see Natsuko-san’s unparalleled, furious bloom of genius in my lifetime. For this exhibition, I am excited about her unconventional collaboration with the flower artist, Makoto Azuma, another total eccentric. I expect we will be able to witness an extraordinary creative expression.
Go crazy. Seriously!!

The day I first met Natsuko Shoji, sparkling energy burst into our Zingaro office in Nakano Broadway. I knew little about her at that time, but the powerful energy radiating from her entire being left a strong impression on me.
Over the past five years since, Shoji has collaborated with Takashi Murakami as well as MADSAKI. For the Gala Dinner for Murakami’s solo exhibition in Kyoto earlier this year, she crafted an original cake for the guests, dedicating three days on site for production. Through these partnerships over the years, I have come to realize that Shoji’s exceptional passion defines her as a truly outstanding creator. Moreover, Shoji kindly supported our Tonari no Kaikado during its infancy before we had a dedicated pastry chef or facility; her sincere and unwavering dedication to craftsmanship has always been evident in her action.
When I heard from Shoji about été’s 10th anniversary, proposing an exhibition with us therefore felt like a natural progression. Shoji embodies the idea of food as art with her entire being. It is an honor for me to present, with sincere respect, Natsuko Shoji as an artist and to celebrate été’s 10 years as art at Kaikai Kiki Gallery.