New Balance Celebrates “Grey Days” with “GREY ART MUSEUM 2026 - Tradition and Innovation through the Five Senses -” in Collaboration with Five Diverse Creators
New Balance Japan and Avex Creator Agency will hold "GREY ART MUSEUM 2026" from May 16-30, 2026, celebrating "Grey Days" with five diverse creators. The experiential exhibition in Tokyo will feature art, sound, scent, and food, reinterpreting New Balance's signature grey through "Heritage with Innovation".
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- 📰 Published: April 30, 2026 at 20:00
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Avex Creator Agency Inc. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Shinsuke Kato; hereinafter: ACA) and New Balance Japan Inc. (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director and President: Shinichi Kubota; hereinafter: New Balance) will hold an art exhibition, "GREY ART MUSEUM 2026 - Tradition and Innovation through the Five Senses -," from Saturday, May 16, 2026, to Saturday, May 30, 2026, at "WALL_alternative (Nishi-Azabu, Tokyo)," commemorating "Grey Days," which celebrates New Balance's brand tradition and timeless signature color.
New Balance designates May as "Grey Days" each year, a month to celebrate its iconic "grey" color. This is an homage to all things New Balance, multidimensionally communicating the timeless appeal of "grey" through special products, events, and stories.
"GREY ART MUSEUM 2026" is a collaborative effort with "MEET YOUR ART," an art project aiming to expand the possibilities of art and artists through new methods, and five creators: Kan Izumi, Kasetsu, Rei Kunimoto, Shinnosuke Tojo, and Motosuke Mandai.
This project is a continuation from last year, serving as an opportunity to experientially present New Balance's craftsmanship philosophy and the concept of "Grey" through collaboration with art. In 2026, building on the theme of "Heritage with Innovation," "Grey" is reinterpreted from multiple angles. Expanding on last year's exhibition approach, it is structured as an immersive experience that engages all five senses, transcending domains into space, sound, scent, experience, and food.
At the center of the venue, the "574" and "ABZORB 2000" products, symbolizing "Heritage with Innovation," will be placed. The venue layout and fixture production are handled by architect Motosuke Mandai, creating a space designed specifically for this exhibition. Starting from the phrase, "New Balance adopted grey because the color of city concrete and asphalt is grey, thus harmonizing with the city, and eventually it became New Balance's signature color," Mandai, viewing "grey as transparent," constructs the space as a medium connecting products, the city, and observers.
Artist Kan Izumi, known for expressions using scent, has created fragrances inspired by the colors of "574" and "ABZORB 2000." Alongside the exhibition, these scents will be presented as artworks that visitors can take home as scent strips (mouillettes). Furthermore, the experience extends to "drinking" the scent, expanding the visual impression of the products to the senses of smell and taste.
Calligrapher Kasetsu will inscribe characters inspired by New Balance's history and philosophy onto approximately 2-meter square paper, solidifying the brand's spirit as a physical trace in the space. Additionally, she will offer a workshop to explore the meaning of characters, guiding participants to trace their inner images and sensations through the single character "歩" (walk/step).
Sound artist Rei Kunimoto has created a sound installation for this exhibition, imagining the wind blowing through the city, thus evoking the ambiance of an urban environment through sound.
Furthermore, Shinnosuke Tojo will present works expressing visual fluctuations using metalworking techniques and hold a workshop on the theme of "The Relationship Between Grey and Color." Starting from New Balance's philosophy that grey is not a color that asserts itself, but rather exists to enhance individuality, participants will experientially explore their own color's relationship with grey.
Within the venue, "Heritage with Innovation" will also be experienced through food and drink. A collaboration between Fuki Seimen Kenkyujo, founded in 1972, and Wadaman, a sesame specialist with over 140 years of history, will offer evolving sesame noodles combining the techniques of long-established businesses.
Additionally, Kyoto-based <7T+> will offer Hojicha gelato developed jointly, and signature wines by the historic "Charmant Wine" and emerging winery "Le milieu" will be available with original GREY ART MUSEUM 2026 labels featuring Kasetsu's artwork. "Drinking New Balance," produced by SCEN, an alternative label spearheaded by Kan Izumi's Olfactive Studio Ne, will also be available, providing an experience that transcends sight, smell, and taste.
This exhibition, starting from products and expanding to space, sound, scent, body, and food, invites you to experience the "Heritage with Innovation" encapsulated within GREY through all five senses.
New Balance designates May as "Grey Days" each year, a month to celebrate its iconic "grey" color. This is an homage to all things New Balance, multidimensionally communicating the timeless appeal of "grey" through special products, events, and stories.
"GREY ART MUSEUM 2026" is a collaborative effort with "MEET YOUR ART," an art project aiming to expand the possibilities of art and artists through new methods, and five creators: Kan Izumi, Kasetsu, Rei Kunimoto, Shinnosuke Tojo, and Motosuke Mandai.
This project is a continuation from last year, serving as an opportunity to experientially present New Balance's craftsmanship philosophy and the concept of "Grey" through collaboration with art. In 2026, building on the theme of "Heritage with Innovation," "Grey" is reinterpreted from multiple angles. Expanding on last year's exhibition approach, it is structured as an immersive experience that engages all five senses, transcending domains into space, sound, scent, experience, and food.
At the center of the venue, the "574" and "ABZORB 2000" products, symbolizing "Heritage with Innovation," will be placed. The venue layout and fixture production are handled by architect Motosuke Mandai, creating a space designed specifically for this exhibition. Starting from the phrase, "New Balance adopted grey because the color of city concrete and asphalt is grey, thus harmonizing with the city, and eventually it became New Balance's signature color," Mandai, viewing "grey as transparent," constructs the space as a medium connecting products, the city, and observers.
Artist Kan Izumi, known for expressions using scent, has created fragrances inspired by the colors of "574" and "ABZORB 2000." Alongside the exhibition, these scents will be presented as artworks that visitors can take home as scent strips (mouillettes). Furthermore, the experience extends to "drinking" the scent, expanding the visual impression of the products to the senses of smell and taste.
Calligrapher Kasetsu will inscribe characters inspired by New Balance's history and philosophy onto approximately 2-meter square paper, solidifying the brand's spirit as a physical trace in the space. Additionally, she will offer a workshop to explore the meaning of characters, guiding participants to trace their inner images and sensations through the single character "歩" (walk/step).
Sound artist Rei Kunimoto has created a sound installation for this exhibition, imagining the wind blowing through the city, thus evoking the ambiance of an urban environment through sound.
Furthermore, Shinnosuke Tojo will present works expressing visual fluctuations using metalworking techniques and hold a workshop on the theme of "The Relationship Between Grey and Color." Starting from New Balance's philosophy that grey is not a color that asserts itself, but rather exists to enhance individuality, participants will experientially explore their own color's relationship with grey.
Within the venue, "Heritage with Innovation" will also be experienced through food and drink. A collaboration between Fuki Seimen Kenkyujo, founded in 1972, and Wadaman, a sesame specialist with over 140 years of history, will offer evolving sesame noodles combining the techniques of long-established businesses.
Additionally, Kyoto-based <7T+> will offer Hojicha gelato developed jointly, and signature wines by the historic "Charmant Wine" and emerging winery "Le milieu" will be available with original GREY ART MUSEUM 2026 labels featuring Kasetsu's artwork. "Drinking New Balance," produced by SCEN, an alternative label spearheaded by Kan Izumi's Olfactive Studio Ne, will also be available, providing an experience that transcends sight, smell, and taste.
This exhibition, starting from products and expanding to space, sound, scent, body, and food, invites you to experience the "Heritage with Innovation" encapsulated within GREY through all five senses.