100 colors — Concept

100 colors is an installation series that began in 2013.
Each artwork is composed of exactly one hundred original colors,
forming space through color itself.

Rather than being applied as surface decoration,
color is treated as three-dimensional element —
layered, repeated, and often floating in space —
to divide, structure, and create space.

Though color exists infinitely around us,
we rarely encounter one hundred colors gathered in a single space.
The number is familiar, yet the experience is not.

For the first installation, I created my own palette of one hundred colors.
This same palette has been used throughout the series ever since,
establishing color as the constant language through which each space tells its own story.

In 1995, during my first visit to Tokyo,
colors appeared to me as floating, three-dimensional layers in the city.
I was deeply moved — as if seeing color for the first time.
This experience awakened my fascination with color
and became the starting point of my concept of shikiri.

Seen at a glance, the one hundred colors enter the body,
inviting people to move through space
and to see, touch, and feel color with their senses.

Since its launch exhibition in Tokyo,
100 colors has continued to unfold across different environments and cities,
developing as a series of site-specific installations around the world.

Artist’s Note

Color has an extraordinary power.
It can give energy, evoke emotion, and bring joy.
Color can move people's hearts and make them happy.

Although humans can distinguish nearly a million colors,
we often live within a limited awareness of color in our everyday lives.
If I had not come to Tokyo, I would never have awakened to color—
never loved it, never truly seen it.
It was here that I realized how deeply color exists around us.

Through 100 colors,
I invite you to receive one hundred colors at once —
with your eyes, your body, and all your senses.
I hope this experience encourages you
to rediscover the colors that already surround you,
and to feel the emotions they quietly hold.

Quotes

“For me, color is a medium to create space and emotion.”

“With colors, I try to give emotions to people.”

“I want people to feel color with their entire body.”

“Color is universal and eternal, borderless and infinite.
Color expresses diversity, color expresses infinite possibilities.”

“Color can make people smile, give energy and joy,
and most importantly, make people happy.”

“Color is emotion.”

“‘Multicolor’ is my favorite color.”

— emmanuelle moureaux