The Seitei Souther gets the fine gold treatment. Coamix unveils a new creation that borrows its techniques from traditional Japanese craftsmanship: a wall panel featuring the silhouette of the sovereign of Nanto struck in genuine gold leaf, signed by Tetsuo Hara himself and limited to fifty copies.
Ressō, the art of the kakemono reimagined for the wall
The name of this line, ressō, comes from the kire, the fine fabric that Japanese mounters have used for centuries to frame hanging scrolls. The idea is to deconstruct this ancestral aesthetic and give it new life as a contemporary art panel, designed to adorn an interior rather than be unrolled.
The chosen backing is a plain black cotton damask, the very same used for mounting kakemono, selected to bring out the depth of the black. On this fabric, the motif is struck in genuine gold leaf, using the gilding technique traditionally reserved for the drapery of Buddhist paintings. A gold that, the publisher promises, will not tarnish for a century.
Hand-mounted, panel by panel
Each copy is glued onto its panel by hand by a hyōgushi, the master mounter who practices this craft on scrolls and folding screens. The result plays with angles of light: depending on the viewer’s position, the gold catches or recedes, and the face of the Seitei changes expression.
The work bears the title “聖帝SOUTHER 2016.” It is delivered framed, accompanied by a handwritten signature from Tetsuo Hara, in a limited edition of fifty copies.
Orders open during the exhibition
The panel will be presented for the first time at the RETURNS+ original artwork exhibition, held at GALLERY ZENON in Kichijoji from September 12 to October 25, 2026. Orders will be taken on site. The price has not been disclosed, but between the gold leaf, the individual artisanal mounting, and the author’s signature, one should expect pricing closer to a work of art than a piece of merchandise.
Source: Coamix press release. © Buronson & Tetsuo Hara / Coamix 1983.
