Enxo: New York

A xandao art project exploring the essential and aesthetic of New York City, in collaboration with xaerial.

The centerpiec of the art is an 'enso' in the shape of Manhattan, an iconic shape and silhouette. A single recognizable stroke to capture the essence of New York. The square in the middle represents Central Park, the crosses are intersections, and the circles represent communities. The outer boroughs are also captured in similar styles.

The city that never sleeps.

If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.

A global center of art, finance, people, cuisine.

30 million people, countless intersections and communities.

How do you capture the essence of New York City as simply as possible?

The Enso is a traditional Japanese Zen Buddhist calligraphy, art, and meditation. It is a simple a circle, drawn in a single stroke, exploring imperfection, completeness, and incompleteness.

The hanko stamp is a traditional Japanese mark used to validate authenticity for art, contracts, or other important matters. It usually includes the name of the studio (xandao), the artist (xaerial), and the project (enxo). The space left open on the right is for the edition number of each unique piece, signifying it's uniqueness and authenticity.

The project uses handmade kozo paper, also known as washi, using traditional handmade Japanese techniques. We've tested over 60 different papers from natural materials like mulberry bark and other rich textures, using a primary color palette that matches the rest of the project. White, natural, black, red, gold, and silver.

Découpage is a technique that uses cut out paper glued onto various other ones and, oftentimes, gold foil. It was made popular by Matisse with his famous colorful cut outs. In our case, we make an enso of paper using a single stroke of a blade, to cut out the shape of Manhattan glued onto various other papers.
This creates different textures and depths of the art, complementing the traditional Japanese ink.

In order to best feel the contours of the island of Manhattan, the artist xaerial skated around the entire island, staying as close as possible to the shore, not always succeeding.

A ten hour trip with a few breaks, forty two miles, starting at 34th Street, skating all the way up to Eastside, through Harlem, Inwood. Down the West Side Highway, rounding Lower Manhattan and returning back to the start.

Enriched by the journey with a better sense of the curves and wonders and Manhatan.

Wear the essence of New York with our signature hoodie featuring the Manhattan enso design.

Made in Turkey with 100% organic cotton. Reversible design with magnetic buttons. Inner lining features a golden map of New York. Special EMF-sheilding silver pocket.

Available at xandao shop

Each edition is numbered (inside the hanko stamp) and verified by an NFT digital twin to ensure authenticity and track the entire catalogue. The NFT also ensures that each edition is a completely unique combiation of attributes (paper, enso color, style, details). You can browse the entire collection of pieces at Enxo on OpenSea.

If you're interested in learning more about the project, doing joint exhibits, or potentially commissioning a custom piece, edition number starting at 49 just email us at xandao dot com. We also periodically have a limited number of pieces available for purchase at the xandao shop.