If J. Alfred Prufrock measured out his mediocre life with coffee spoons, perhaps my own meagre existence since coming, rather unexpectedly, to Japan has been measured out with certain exhibitions—especially those of Rey Camoy.
The first was a retrospective on the twentieth anniversary of his death, shown at an art museum on an artificial island in cosmopolitan Kobe, one of the many cities that the nomadic painter called home during his short life. The second was a <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/event/2010/E50F.en" target="_blank">retrospective on the twenty-fifth anniversary of his death</a>, held at the unassuming venue of the Sogo Museum of Art in Yokohama. Somewhat inevitably, the third was a retrospective coinciding with the thirtieth anniversary of Camoy’s death, currently on display at Tokyo Station Gallery through July 20th.
This time the venue feels more appropriate, located in a turret of one of Japan’s most famous Western-style train stations, with original brick walls and all. Camoy’s work is arguably more European than Japanese in style—he falls into the category, unfashionable today, of yōga, literally, “Western painting”—and certainly his worldview is highly universal. Camoy’s paintings feed a guilty pleasure of mine; I’m a sucker for anything that resembles the work of Francis Bacon, the artist with whom I probably first fell in love with when this Home Counties lad stumbled into the Tate Britain one afternoon. With his deep reds and stark portraits, the work of Camoy contains irrefutable parallels to that of Bacon, and this exhibition is a comprehensive introduction to his career.
<img class="imgcaption" title="Rey Camoy, 'Time standing still' (1968) The National Museum of Art, Tokyo" src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/rey-camoy-tokyo-station-gallery-1.jpg" alt="" width="518" height="403" />
Born in 1928 in Kanazawa to a newspaper reporter father, Rey Camoy (this is the preferred transliteration of his name, as opposed to the more standard Rei Kamoi) spent his childhood wandering from city to city as his father transferred posts. Inevitably, Camoy too, when he became an artist, was fundamentally peripatetic: he took up residence across South America, Spain, France and even further afield. He ultimately settled in Kobe, but not happily it seems, as he took his own life in 1985 at the age of 57.
<img class="imgcaption floatr" title="Rey Camoy, 'Waiting his turn (Pierrot)' (1984) Private collection" src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/rey-camoy-tokyo-station-gallery-2.jpg" alt="" width="257" height="415" />
Camoy enjoyed a level of modest success and in 1969 received the Yasui Award, often seen as a springboard for emerging artists. His oeuvre, of which over 100 exhibits are featured at Tokyo Station Gallery, can be broadly arranged into three groups: abstract works, especially those dwelling on motifs of churches; portraits, with the frequent appearance of clowns, gamblers and drunks; and self-portraits, which intersect with the former, since Camoy often casts himself in the role of these wretched characters, his image made recognizable by his unruly grey sideburns.
Camoy’s focus on the Lumpenproletariat figures he encountered on his travels in Europe and Latin America retain an archetypal texture, as if drawn from the canon of world literature. These lost souls include dipsomaniacs, disabled soldiers, mothers and sons. These are the same type of people who inhabit the painting that won Camoy the Yasui Award, Time standing still (1968), depicting four swarthy gamblers throwing dice, with what little each character possesses in the material world hanging on the roll of these tiny objects. The portraits revel in the dusty atmosphere of rustic Europe, backward regions forgotten by the forward-looking capitals of London, Paris and Berlin—a far cry from the glamorous society depicted by the pre-war Japanese artists like Léonard Fujita and his associates who gathered in Paris.
Just like Eliot’s Prufrock, there is an element of the absurd amongst his portraits, as well as a trace of sadness: it is the recurring pose that stands out; hunched back, belly out, chest up, face ruffled. It is a cynical posture, the angle of the world-weary, the bemused and know-it-all. But while these veterans may have experience and wisdom, they are nonetheless defeated by delicate objects they encounter before their eyes—a moth, a dice, a balloon. These portraits are often depicted incongruously, cramped into one corner of the canvas with the remaining surface extending in a menacing void of black or dark color. The wretched of the earth always have despair at their back, a sorrow that Camoy not only painted but also lived, his suicide preceded by several attempts.
<img class="imgcaption" title="Rey Camoy, 'Myself, 1982' (1982)" src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/rey-camoy-tokyo-station-gallery-3.jpg" alt="" width="518" height="361" />
Camoy’s largest and most ambitious painting is Myself, 1982 (1982), which features the artist sitting morose before a blank canvas. Echoing the watercolor Dickens’ Dream by Robert William Buss, all of the artist’s motley band of creations seem to be lurking in the shadows, awaiting embodiment by his brush. It is a meta-painting, the motifs and demons that cannot be laid to rest forever reprising themselves in the artist’s memory.
While the retrospective is organized fairly conventionally by period, a testament to Camoy’s wanderlust that lends itself easily to chronology, the show ends on an oddly muted note after the grandeur of Myself, 1982, with a collection of early sketches of the paintings just encountered. However, the inclusions of Camoy’s actual easel and his final, unfinished painting, along with a photograph showing the painting on the easel in his Kobe atelier at the time of his death, vividly remind us that Camoy died at the height of his talents. Following a time of frustrated experimentation with nudes in Kobe in his later years, at the end of his life Camoy had been returning to his best style of painting.

article_13575

Rey Camoy, little-known peripatetic Japanese painter of the human condition

<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/101tokyo-cameron1.jpg" alt="Akiba Square, this year's venue for 101Tokyo." title="Photo: Katrina Grigg-Saito" width="518" height="345" class="imgcaption" /> 
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/101tokyo-cameron3.jpg" alt="The weather was miserable but that didn't affect the party mood. Minglers in the foyer included Donald Eubank (Japan Times)." title="Photo: KGS" width="518" height="345" class="imgcaption" /> 
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/101tokyo-cameron2.jpg" alt="Man about town, and father of Tokyo Art Beat and 101Tokyo, Kousuke Fujitaka." title="Photo: KGS" width="518" height="345" class="imgcaption" /> 
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/101tokyo12.jpg" alt="Writer and blogger Jean Snow." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="344" class="imgcaption" /> 
Business transactions seemed to be far from gallerists’ minds. Rather, they were keen to introduce their work to whoever was passing. Though perhaps not as successful as last year’s interconnecting booth layout, the venue was still organized in an effective and fun way. Variety gave the different sections character and prevented you from getting lost. Some booths were huddled together like a mosh pit, meaning you couldn’t but help moving amongst the art works themselves. 
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/101tokyo15.jpg" alt="Artist Sesamespace of fabre8710 gallery shows off her photographs 'girl girl girl #2' (2008). The wig the sheep are sporting is actually the artist's hair." title="Photo: WA" width="518" height="344" class="imgcaption" /> 
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/101tokyo8.jpg" alt="Nakaochiai Gallery's booth." title="Photo: WA" width="518" height="345" class="imgcaption" /> 
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/101tokyo7.jpg" alt="Striking nudity at the Yumiko Chiba Associates/viewing room GINZA booth." title="Photo: WA" width="518" height="344" class="imgcaption" /> 
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/101tokyo5.jpg" alt="Koen Vanmechelen's arresting work, represented by Berengo Collection." title="Photo: WA" width="518" height="344" class="imgcaption" /> 
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/101tokyo4.jpg" alt="A booth by sponsor Sony Digital Entertainment." title="Photo: WA" width="518" height="344" class="imgcaption" /> 
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/101tokyo6.jpg" alt="One of the best works at the Fair. Striking sculptures by Housaku Shibata at the Gallery Q booth. The Buddha's head is a giant brain." title="Photo: WA" width="257" height="387" class="imgcaption floatl" /><img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/101tokyo2.jpg" alt="It wasn't just galleries exhibiting. This booth was by Zine's Mate, the Tokyo Art Book Fair taking place in July." title="Photo: WA" width="257" height="387" class="imgcaption floatl" /> 
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/101tokyo16.jpg" alt="Osaka's ARTCOURT Gallery staff show visitors some of their collection. It included Poh Wang's video work 'Water Flows' (2007), where you crouch down and put on headphones to watch a ceramic swan find its way through Dutch streets to its aquatic home." title="Photo: WA" width="518" height="344" class="imgcaption" /> 
An opening night wouldn’t be an opening night without some strange, unexplained performances. 101Tokyo’s choice was eclectic but eschewed pretentiousness for sheer spontaneous inanity. 
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/101tokyo-cameron4.jpg" alt="Yellow risotto performance. The standing girl was orally feeding mashed sweet potato to the other, who then regurgitated the yellow mush into a black pot." title="Photo: Cameron McKean" width="518" height="345" class="imgcaption" /> 
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/101tokyo-cameron5.jpg" alt="Experimental music performance feat. daikon." title="Photo: CM" width="518" height="345" class="imgcaption" /> 
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/101tokyo3.jpg" alt="" title="Photo: WA" width="518" height="344" class="imgcaption" /> 
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/101tokyo-cameron6.jpg" alt="Shintaro Miyake's 'Path to Egypt', part of the Tomio Koyama Gallery booth. An achaeological gesture towards Takashi Murakami." title="Photo: CM" width="518" height="345" class="imgcaption" /> 
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/101tokyo13.jpg" alt="Akuma no Shirushi (Devil's Sign) navigated and stumbled their way around the corridors at various points in the evening." title="Photo: WA" width="518" height="344" class="imgcaption" /> 
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/101tokyo14.jpg" alt="Kazuhito Matsumoto." title="Photo: WA" width="518" height="344" class="imgcaption" /> 
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/101tokyo9.jpg" alt="Yusuke Komuta's work greets visitors near the entrance." title="Photo: WA" width="257" height="387" class="imgcaption floatl" />The Fair features a series called “101 Discoveries”, individual exhibits by up-and-coming artists, which did much to break up the monotony of booths you often experience at an art fair.
The Fair has also organized an accessible series of talk events on a range of themes, running throughout the April 4 and 5 weekend. 
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/101tokyo-cameron7.jpg" alt="Akira Kamo's mural." title="Photo: CM" width="518" height="345" class="imgcaption" /> 
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/101tokyo11.jpg" alt="Yu Sato's work felt like it might suck you into its lair." title="Photo: WA" width="518" height="344" class="imgcaption" /> 
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/101tokyo10.jpg" alt="Guests steer around organic art on the wall by Tohru Matsushita." title="Photo: WA" width="518" height="344" class="imgcaption" />

article_2953

101Tokyo 2009 Opening Night

Exhibitions
It was a nervous year, with the world-wide economic crisis always lurking. But we did not see any overt signs among the line-up of exhibitions for the year.
These were strangely self-referential, with lots of over-due retrospectives or major museum shows for Japanese artists who have always seemed to be “young and up-and-coming”. Examples include Teppei Kaneuji (<a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2009/04/temples-of-bone-and-plastic.html">reviewed by Kenneth Masaki Shima</a>) and <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/event/2009/9630">Tabaimo</a> at Yokohama Museum of Art, Roji Ikeda at (the newly renovated) MOT (<a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2009/05/thresholding.html">reviewed by Cameron McKean</a>), Tomoko Konoike at Opera City (<a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2009/08/art-tripping.html">reviewed by Rebecca Milner</a>), Kohei Nawa (<a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2009/08/queasy-trinity.html">reviewed by Sophie Knight</a>) and, currently, <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/event/2009/536B">Motohiko Odani</a>, both at Maison Hermes.
Commercial museums like Mori held many blockbuster shows, including Ai WeiWei (<a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2009/08/according-to-ai.html">reviewed by TABuzz</a>). “Bones” (<a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2009/07/inside-out.html">reviewed by Matthew Hayles</a>) was a stunning design show at 21_21 Design Sight, supervised by Shunji Yamanaka. Hara also continued producing ambitious exhibitions, with a major Jim Lambie installation (<a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2009/03/vintage-vinyl.html">reviewed by Jessica Niles DeHoff</a>) at the start of the year and a wide-reaching show looking at so-called Micropop art in Japan (<a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2009/06/micropop-imagination.html">reviewed by Mark Downing Roberts</a>).
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/accordingtowhat.jpg" alt="Mori Art Museum ‘Ai Weiwei: According to What?’ July 25 to November 8, 2009" title="Photo: Watanabe Osamu. Courtesy: Mori Art Museum" width="518" height="345" class="imgcaption" />
This was also the year that zines and print media made a big comeback in Tokyo. Zine’s Mate was a major book fair (we did a <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2009/07/zines-mate-opening.html">photo-report</a> on it) and later in the year there was the magazine event, “Tokyo Graphic Conference” (reviewed by <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2009/10/an-audience-with.html">Sophie Knight</a> and <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2009/10/the-state-of-magazines.html">Rebecca Milner</a>).
Also making a big return were art collective Chim↑Pom, who bounced back from their Hiroshima controversy to launch a book and several shows this year (see <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2009/06/guerrillas-in-the-midst.html">Sophie Knight’s review </a>of the NADiff exhibition and this <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2009/06/chim-pom-yamamoto-gendai.html">photo-report </a>of the Yamamoto Gendai opening).
Public Art
In a city with limited space and lots of people, public art events are always sure to find an audience, often just by crowds and commuters stumbling upon it on their way somewhere. The “Roppongi Art Night” (<a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2009/04/roppongis-attempt-at-creating-an-art-space.html">reviewed by Kenneth Masaki Shima</a>) was, mercifully, free from commercial cynism despite its locale — but it also wasn’t exactly good either.
The “Natural House” workshop held in plush Ebisu was a more striking and sincere example, igniting urban residents with the hope of sustainability. We <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2009/05/no-place-like-home.html">interviewed</a> the founders, a British gardener and a Japanese architect.
Lastly, the current <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2009/12/entering-no-mans-land.html">“No Man’s Land”</a> is a bravado, unique experiment featuring over three hundred artists transforming the soon-to-be-demolished French Embassy in Hiroo.
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/no-mans-land-11.jpg" alt="Speedy Graphito covers the walls at the French Embassy" title="Photo: Katrina Grigg-Saito" width="518" height="344" class="imgcaption" />
Art Fairs
<a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2009/04/art-fair-tokyo-2009.html">“Art Fair Tokyo”</a> had growing numbers of booths and attendants, apparent proof of recession-defiance. Did it add up to interesting art in the end?
No word yet on whether “101Tokyo” will happen next year but it did take place concurrently with “Art Fair Tokyo”, at a different style of venue to its debut one. We did a <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2009/04/101tokyo-2009-opening-night.html">photo-report</a> on it, along with the autumn <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2009/11/tokyo-contemporary-art-fair-2009.html">“Tokyo Contemporary Art Fair”</a>.
Takashi Murakami’s <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2009/03/a-beginners-guide-to-geisai.html">“Geisai”</a> was held again at Big Sight (<a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2009/03/the-geisai-has-landed.html">Katrina Grigg-Saito covered it in a photo-report</a>), though the usual second one of the year almost didn’t happen and in the end was tucked away in a Kaikai Kiki venue in the outlying provinces. <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2009/05/a-beginners-guide-to-design-festa.html">“Design Festa”</a>, however, seems to be going strong.
<img class="imgcaption" title="Photo: Katrina Grigg-Saito" src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/geisai12-14.jpg" alt="Performance artist unit. maker roamed the hall creating impromptu pieces at GEISAI #12." width="518" height="344" />
New Arrivals
Mizuma opened a <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/33F93416.en">new branch at Ichigaya</a>, as we reported <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2009/11/news-digest-november-2-6.html">here</a>. They are to keep one of the floors of their characterful <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/65B1F00B.en">Nakameguro building</a> until it is knocked down in two years.
<a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2009/09/yuka-contemporary-opens.html">Yuka Contemporary appeared</a> in the Waseda district and Zen Foto opened as a Chinese contemporary photography space, run by the friendly Englishman Mark Pearson (<a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2009/10/a-touch-of-zen.html">interviewed here on TABlog</a>).
Gallery Alpham’s appearance has done much to cement the Bakurocho area as the new Tokyo art town (other galleries in the area include <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/83FBBC7D.en">Taro Nasu</a>, <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/51A56F7D.en">Radi-um</a> and <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/FA875462">CASHI</a>). We took a <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2009/07/bakurocho-new-art-town.html">walk around the district</a>.
New space Vacant in Harajuku immediately established itself as a great and fun space for a wide range of events, hosting the come-back of Chim Pom and the Zine’s Mate book fair among their first months’ events.
Finally, <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/2CB01D66.en">Ohshima Fine Arts</a> moved into Kagurazaka.
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/101tokyo13.jpg" alt="Akuma no Shirushi (Devil's Sign) navigated and stumbled their way around the corridors at various points at the opening reception for 101Tokyo 2009." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="344" class="imgcaption" />
Goodbyes
The media seemed to be hit the hardest by the recession. Ping Mag stopped publishing on this day last year, and Art Cross followed soon after, despite a re-launch. ArtiT changed from a print magazine to an expanded online one, which is a step back or a step forward, depending on your outlook.
<a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/421FCEB2.en">TKG Daikanyama</a> closed quietly, as we <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2009/05/news-digest-may-25-to-29.html">reported here</a>. Gotanda Sonic also suddenly announced they were shutting down, though rumours say they are re-opening somewhere else.
We had a <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2009/06/its-crunch-time.html">feature</a> on TABlog in June summarizing some of the recession traits in the Tokyo art scene.
Absentees
This year saw, for various reaons, few exhibitions or artistic contributions from galleries Min Min, Nakaochiai and Aoyama/Meguro. Let’s hope we see more of them in 2010.
Movals
As the “Neoteny Japan” show (<a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2009/06/playground-psyche.html">reviewed by James Jack</a>) featuring Dr. Takahashi’s archive was shuttling around the country, the Takahashi Collection gallery itself closed in Kagurazaka and opened in Hibiya. (The Shirokane one too is pretty quiet these days.)
Talking of Shirokane, <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/69883021">Nanzuka Underground</a> moved into the gallery building there, making opening receptions much more fun. <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/7A0B4520.en">Zenshi</a> moved out from Kiyosumi to Iwamotocho (which is just about in the burgeoning Bakurocho area), to be joined by Yuka Sasahara next month (moving from Kagurazaka).
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/bakurocho19.jpg" alt="Zenshi, recently moved from the Kiyosumi-Shirakawa building, near Iwamotocho Station, a short walk from Akihabara." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="292" class="imgcaption" />
Cynicism
The most cynical moment of the year? So many to choose from but perhaps Yayoi Kusama’s numerous corporate collaborations, including Iida and Audi. Oh, dear.
Looking ahead
Nanzuka Underground is going to re-open its old gallery in Shibuya as a second space (which should make openings at Zen Foto livelier) and beloved Megumi Ogita Gallery is moving in January to another (hopefully larger) space in Ginza.

article_6650

Year in Review: 2009

Earthquake Effects
We cannot even begin any reflection on the year without first considering the enormous impact of the earthquake and tsunami of March 11. It led to several <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2011/03/tohoku-kanto-earthquake-tsunami-tokyo-art-world.html
">high profile cancellations and postponements</a> (including Art Fair Tokyo and Roppongi Art Night), as well as charitable efforts by galleries and organizations too numerous to list here. Many galleries also abstained from having opening receptions as strategies to reduce energy consumption amidst the setsuden hysteria.
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/chim-pom-real-times-1.jpg" alt="Chim↑Pom, 'REAL TIMES' (2011) Video" title="(c) 2011 Chim↑Pom. Courtesy of Mujin-to Production, Tokyo" width="518" height="291" class="imgcaption" />
It may well be still too early for any authentic artist response and yet many have been trying. Chim↑Pom achieved the most publicity through their largely facile video and “guerilla” stunt “sabotaging” Taro Okamoto’s anti-war mural, ‘The Myth of Tomorrow’. The analogy with the Okamoto painting, far from being an attack on the establishment — since when has Okamoto been an appropriate symbol of respectability? — is also troubling for its malapropos posturing. Fukushima is, after all, an example of corporate and postwar hubris, not to mention possible government venality. Okamoto’s previously lost work is urgently pacifist in nature and its constant exploitation for cheap artistic tricks is troubling. (The short film <a href="http://youtu.be/E2SgonaD4U0">“Blind”</a> also made extensive use of shots including the mural.) Beyond the superficial “nuclear” similarities, the parallel simply does not hold up and merely becomes as complex as the jejune stick figures drawn by the Chim↑Pom members.
Ever since I saw them openly admit at a talk event that they had “no plan” in attempting their <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2009/06/guerrillas-in-the-midst.html">Hiroshima “pika!” stunt</a>, I’ve been unable to make up my mind whether Chim↑Pom were immensely naive or just plain bad. Now I’ve started to suspect they are rather merely insincere.
Take their name. In a country such as Japan, free of Judeo-Christian guilt about sex and with essentially lolicon idols embraced into mainstream pop culture, how is it subversive or even interesting to take a name that brazenly hints at genitalia? You can be misguided, incoherent or slapdash. You may even be inept. But an artist must always be sincere if they are to be taken seriously. If I am wrong and Chim↑Pom’s work is meant in good faith, then these stunts only go so far. The question is not to go into Fukushima’s no man’s land and create reportage, as Chim↑Pom did with their videos in the <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/event/2011/4907">exhibition “Real Times”</a>, even if by doing so you put your health at risk. There are plenty of more qualified journalists doing the work of documentation. The issues are grave and require either responses more emotive, or more critical.
Yokohama Triennale
In any normal year the calendar would have been dominated by the <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2011/08/yokohama-triennale-2011-photo-report.html">Yokohama Triennale</a>. The event (<a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2011/08/yokohama-triennale-something-borrowed-something-new.html">reviewed by Emily Wakeling</a>) in Tokyo’s neighbour still managed to make headlines, though, and achieved record numbers of visitors to boot.
Compared to its more sprawling previous incarnation, the number of venues was mainly reduced to two cram-packed, conventional buildings and there was an undeniable feeling at times that famine would have been preferred to feast, especially when the overarching “theme” was so hackneyed and vapid (“Our Magic Hour”), and much of the work familiar as part of the Yokohama Museum of Art’s collection. A clutch of big names (Yoko Ono, Hiroshi Sugimoto et al) and a splash of colourful exhibits, and hey presto, you apparently have a nice day out for city slickers.
With some noble exceptions, it seems increasingly inevitable that major arts events must aim for visitors stats at the expense of compelling or challenging presentations. The role of such a triennale should be to bring new ideas and thinking to the fore, rather than recycling motifs of “senses” and “myths”. Quality should always take precedence over quantity, a cliche apparently oft forgotten by organizers and curators.
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/yokohama-triennale-2011-10.jpg" alt="Yin Xiuzhen's 'One Sentence' (2011) at the Yokohama Triennale 2011" title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="389" class="imgcaption" />
Top Exhibitions
In a year otherwise influenced so much by catastrophe, what other art events can be remembered fondly? The best response to 3.11 has likely so far been <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/event/2011/4E27">Yoko Ono’s “LIGHT”</a> at Tomio Koyama (<a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2011/12/shining-light-on-disaster.html">reviewed</a> by Jessica Howard), with its haunting sense of bewilderment in the darkness. The <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2011/05/sex-shinjuku-art-gig-tokyo-1.html">ArtGigTokyo series</a> successfully utilized innovative public spaces, including a gay club in Shinjuku and a disused hospital in Hatsudai, each site apt to its theme and curation. On the other hand, the <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/event/2011/4BBC">“Villa Tokyo”</a> event (<a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2011/11/villa-tokyo-europe-comes-to-town.html">reviewed</a> by Emily Wakeling) saw a series of office buildings converted into temporary exhibition spaces in Kyobashi, but sadly with less obvious flair and imagination.
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/art-gig-tokyo-dirty-sex-1.jpg" alt="ArtgigTokyo 1 in Shinjuku's Ni-chome gay district." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="389" class="imgcaption" />
But what about the other TABlog contributors? Here are the personal favs for 2011 from three of the team.
<a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/author/emily_wakeling">Emily Wakeling</a> 
My personal favourites (that I didn’t review) were <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/event/2011/2065.en">“Kusama’s Body Festival in the ’60s”</a> held at Watarium, Min Wong’s <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/event/2011/3615.en">“Imitation of Life”</a> at Hara, RongRong and Inri’s <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/event/2011/5EF6.en">“Three Begets Ten Thousand Things”</a> at Shiseido and Tomoko Yoneda’s <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/event/2011/72C6.en">“Japanese House”</a> at shugoarts. I was impressed by Chim Pom’s very quick turnaround for works about the 3.11. In May they <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2011/06/getting-serious.html">debuted video performances</a> at SNAC Gallery in response to the nuclear crisis, including their illicit contribution to the Taro Okamoto mural ‘Myth of Tomorrow’. Another successful piece in response to 3.11 was Australian artist Susan Norrie’s ‘Transit’ video at the <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/event/2011/ABD1.en">Yokohama Triennale 2011</a>. It had a slightly alarming message about the reaches of scientific progress versus the uncontrollable power of nature. 
<a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/author/darryl_jingwen_wee">Darryl Jingwen Wee</a> 
My top 3 votes go to the <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/event/2011/41E8.en">Anri Sala show</a> at Kaikai Kiki, <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/event/2011/2756.en">Naoya Hatakeyama at Syabi</a>, and the <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/event/2011/B93A.en">Berlin show</a> at the MOT.
Anri Sala’s gallery debut in Japan (coinciding with a small solo showcase at the National Museum of Art in Osaka) deftly deployed Kaikai Kiki’s L-shaped space to maximum effect. Sala experimented with how sound, and the act of its articulation, can possibly be translated into visual form. ‘Long Sorrow’ laboriously traced the joyous contractions of an improv sax player’s mouth as he blew hot and cold in a riotous stutter high above a Berlin suburb, while ‘Tlatelolco Clash’ featured a fascinating cast of local Mexican residents, each offering a personalized, idiosyncratic rendition of The Clash’s ‘Should I Stay or Should I Go’ on a hand-cranked barrel organ.
Hatakeyama’s survey was a quiet but confident rejoinder to a crowded Japanese market of pop-colored painting. Standouts from the MOT’s Berlin show were definitely Simon Fujiwara’s video/installation that managed to memorialize his reticent relationship with his father in a poignant way, in addition to exploring how Berlin seems to function as a post-national space conducive to exploring issues of heritage, nationality and cultural idiom.
<a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/author/dan_abbe">Dan Abbe</a> 
The 3/11 earthquake and its aftermath have made plenty of photographers look ordinary: not only photojournalists, but respected fine art photographers have visited the affected areas and been unable to come away with images that expand our understanding of what’s happening. Perhaps it’s no coincidence that some of the most compelling images to emerge so far have come from <a href="http://rolls7.com">ROLLS TOHOKU</a>, a project which puts disposable cameras in the hands of people of all ages living in evacuation centers. The resulting photographs distinguish themselves through their genuine personal connection to the disaster — something that’s kept professionals at a distance. ROLLS is nominally a web-based project, but it was exhibited at 3331 Arts Chiyoda in July, where, like its online incarnation, it was displayed as a series of unedited rolls of film.
Given that Naoya Hatakeyama’s own hometown of Rikuzentakada was one of the cities leveled by the 3/11 tsunami, it might have been reasonable to expect that his work would evince some personal reaction. Instead, it seems as though he simply worked twice as hard as any other photographer to produce the most stunning, technically meticulous photographs of the destruction so far. This work was displayed as part of his fall exhibition at Syabi, “Natural Stories,” which included photographs from his entire career showing his sensitive relationship to the earth (in the literal sense of “ground”). The Rikuzentakada photos were printed small, and incorporated into the flow of the exhibit without any fanfare. Photographs as powerful as these don’t need embellishment.
New Galleries
As with any year, Tokyo witnessed its usual array of fluctuating gallery addresses.
In the most exciting development, Zen Foto, Ota Fine Arts and Wako Works of Art, three galleries formerly in Shibuya, Kachidoki and Shinjuku respectively, <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2011/02/power-in-numbers.html
">moved into the same building in Roppongi</a>, joined by a new Taka Ishii venue, Taka Ishii Gallery Photography/Film.
On the other hand, Foil Gallery in Bakurocho moved out of the capital to Kyoto, while new spaces include <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2011/02/news-digest-february.html">The Container</a>, which was installed in a hair salon in Nakameguro.
Art Fairs
A delayed and rather subdued <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2011/07/art-fair-tokyo-2011.html">Art Fair Tokyo</a> opened in the summer instead of the spring. Several major galleries did not take part and the atmosphere had an undeniably all too familiar ring to it.
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/tokyo-art-fair-2011-9.jpg" alt="Art Fair Tokyo 2011" title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="389" class="imgcaption" />
Following its debut last year, <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2011/02/g-tokyo-2011-roppongis-chic-art-fair.html">G-tokyo</a> was held again at Mori Art Museum but successfully eschewed deja vu. Demonstrating that less is definitely more, larger “booth” spaces and an overall sense of curation made this a more enjoyable and memorable experience for the average visitor.
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/g-tokyo-art-fair-2011-4.jpg" alt="At G-tokyo 2011, 'minimalbaroque IX' by Shigeo Toya for the shugoarts booth" title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="389" class="imgcaption" />
Almost simultaneous with G-tokyo 2011 was a new art fair, <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2011/02/at-the-front-line.html">Tokyo Frontline</a>, at 3331 Arts Chiyoda and provided a much more interesting use of space by an art fair than the usual suspect(s). Booths were installed in the upstairs gymnasium of the former school and all over the first floor. Fingers crossed this event can develop into a regular alternative fair.
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/tokyo-frontline-art-fair-11.jpg" alt="Tokyo Frontline art fair in February." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="389" class="imgcaption" />
Also on TABlog…
Popular posts amongst the plethora of articles published over 2011 include our interview with <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2011/11/from-music-homework-to-digital-native-artist.html">media and music artist Sputniko!</a> and with the <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2011/11/filmex-platform-for-japanese-arthouse-cinema.html">festival director of FILMeX, Shozo Ichiyama</a>. We also covered in-depth the recent talk event between <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2011/10/rem-koolhaas-x-nanjo-fumio-why-metabolism-now.html">Fumio Nanjo and Rem Koolhaas</a> on the subject of Metabolism, and witnessed Tsubasa Kato’s <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2011/08/tsubasa-kato-pulls-us-together.html">participatory art event in Kiba park</a>. Plus we reported on how <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2011/10/senseless-drawing-bot-the-robotic-artist.html">artistic robots</a> are becoming the next generation of painters, and surveyed the innovative relationship between the <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2011/09/getting-down-to-business.html">Japanese corporate and art worlds</a>.
2012
What to expect for the next twelve months? Kids-friendly <a href="http://www.roppongiartnight.com/">Roppongi Art Night</a> is now confirmed for March next year after being cancelled in 2011, as are at least <a href="http://www.gtokyo-art.com/2012/">G-tokyo</a> and <a href="http://tokyofrontline.jp/">Tokyo Frontline</a> in February. Otherwise, with the Fukushima nuclear situation ostensibly stabilized, we can hopefully hold our breaths for more contemplative and thought-provoking (as opposed to merely ostensibly “provoking”) responses from local artists.

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2011 Year in Review

article_9464

Art Fair Tokyo 2011

Debuting <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2010/01/g-tokyo-2010-a-new-art-fair.html">last year</a> and making quite a splash, “G-tokyo” has returned to the Mori Arts Center Gallery.
Though structured in the same three long corridors and again showcasing a tight selection of fifteen Tokyo galleries, the 2011 edition contains more solo and curated shows than last year. This year’s event is also geared more to the general visitor, running an extra week (the “exhibition week”) after all the “art fair” sales are over.
The “G-tokyo 2011” opening night on Friday coincided with <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2011/01/news-digest-january-2.html">four galleries re-opening</a> in the Piramide building, very close to Mori and also a stone’s throw from the previous <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2008/02/roppongi-gallery-building-closes.html">Roppongi art gallery complex</a> that shut in 2008.
Also, <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/event/2011/EC88.en">“Mancy’s Tokyo Art Nights”</a> has also been taking place this weekend in an Azabujuban luxury salon bar, and <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2011/02/at-the-front-line.html">“Tokyo Frontline”</a> has emerged as a wholly new fair at 3331 Arts Chiyoda just days before.
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/g-tokyo-art-fair-2011-1.jpg" alt="The venue looked much same as last year, with the wide corridors being a welcome change from the usual tight art fair passageways." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="389" class="imgcaption" />
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/g-tokyo-art-fair-2011-2.jpg" alt="Each gallery has a space which is more a show than a typical art fair booth. The spaces seem in fact larger than some entire Tokyo white cube galleries. Here is the Taka Ishii Gallery, with works by Mario Garcia Torres." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="389" class="imgcaption" />
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/g-tokyo-art-fair-2011-3.jpg" alt="Rather than trying to cram their 'booth' with all their stock and wares, many of the galleries in fact only exhibited one work. Here, shugoarts presented 'minimalbaroque IX' by Shigeo Toya." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="389" class="imgcaption" />
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/g-tokyo-art-fair-2011-4.jpg" alt="There were various large 'cracks' for visitors to peer into..." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="389" class="imgcaption" />
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/g-tokyo-art-fair-2011-5.jpg" alt="The SCAI the Bathhouse space was much more crowded, especially at the preview. Here a visitor purchases an untitled work by Anish Kapoor." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="389" class="imgcaption" />
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/g-tokyo-art-fair-2011-7.jpg" alt="Chilean artist Alfredo Jaar's work from Kenji Taki Gallery." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="389" class="imgcaption" />
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/g-tokyo-art-fair-2011-6.jpg" alt="Bombay Sapphire sponsored two spaces, the first being this mini 'Imagination in a bottle' gallery connecting two of the main corridors." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="389" class="imgcaption" />
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/g-tokyo-art-fair-2011-8.jpg" alt="The second was the 'Sapphire Bar -- ghost of the glass', a drinking space with light installation designed by Hiroshi Nakamura." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="389" class="imgcaption" />
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/g-tokyo-art-fair-2011-9.jpg" alt="Ethnographic sculpture by Izumi Kato dominated proceedings at Arataniurano." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="389" class="imgcaption" />
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/g-tokyo-art-fair-2011-10.jpg" alt="From Taro Nasu came this series of colorful and irreverent takes on famous images by Djordje Ozbolt." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="389" class="imgcaption" />

article_8995

G-tokyo 2011: Roppongi’s chic art fair

Unofficially inheriting the crown of the <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2008/04/101tokyo-contemporary-art-fair-launches.html">inaugural “101TOKYO”</a>, a new art fair has arrived at 3331 Arts Chiyoda.
“Tokyo Frontline” is, its creators hope, part of a five-year plan to develop the art fair model: rather than only having gallery booths, the event focuses on a selection of thirty-eight artists from across the gallery spectrum. These are exhibited alongside open ‘presentation’ spaces for galleries, design organizations and print media.
Happening the same week as <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/event/2011/EAD1.en">“G-Tokyo”</a> and the <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/event/2011/A476">Yebisu International Festival for Art and Alternative Visions</a>, it also marks the start of a busy calendar in Tokyo as we head towards “Roppongi Art Night” and “Art Fair Tokyo”.
<img src='http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/tokyo-frontline-art-fair-1.jpg' alt='The venue, 3331 Arts Chiyoda, is a former school building and also was where the first "101TOKYO" was held.' title='Photo: William Andrews' width='518' height='389' class='imgcaption' />
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/tokyo-frontline-art-fair-2.jpg" alt="Red was the theme colour for the event..." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="389" class="imgcaption" />
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/tokyo-frontline-art-fair-3.jpg" alt="...including the carpet." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="389" class="imgcaption" />
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/tokyo-frontline-art-fair-4.jpg" alt="And even the staff uniforms." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="389" class="imgcaption" />
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/tokyo-frontline-art-fair-5.jpg" alt="In the 'Exchange' presentations space downstairs, a rhino sculpture by Chie Hitotsuyama lay on the ground surrounded by flowers." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="384" class="imgcaption" />
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/tokyo-frontline-art-fair-6.jpg" alt="A Bugs Bunny-esque work by Ken Kagami." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="389" class="imgcaption" />
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/tokyo-frontline-art-fair-7.jpg" alt="Not a booth but a 'presentation space', here by the New Tokyo Contemporaries (Aoyama Meguro, Arataniurano, Zenshi, Take Ninagawa, Misako & Rosen, Mujin-to Productions and Yuka Sasahara Gallery)." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="389" class="imgcaption" />
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/tokyo-frontline-art-fair-8.jpg" alt="Galerie Garand Siecle from Taiwan, with video works by Chen I-Chun and Chen Wan-Jen." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="389" class="imgcaption" />
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/tokyo-frontline-art-fair-9.jpg" alt="The 'Exchange' space seen from behind the window at the Insideout/Tokyo Project room, with 'Toysaurus' by Hiroshi Fuji." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="389" class="imgcaption" />
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/tokyo-frontline-art-fair-10.jpg" alt="Downstairs the first of two galleries with the selected thirty-eight artists' works for sale." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="389" class="imgcaption" />
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/tokyo-frontline-art-fair-11.jpg" alt="Staff in striking red getting more acquainted with the works before the event opens. To the left is a furry dog with a baseball bat up its rear, courtesy of Ken Kagami." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="389" class="imgcaption" />
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/tokyo-frontline-art-fair-12.jpg" alt="Unfortunately when TABlog was at the press preview the second downstairs gallery was still under construction! People weren't sure whether it was safe to venture across the barricade." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="257" height="343" class="imgcaption floatl" />
 
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/tokyo-frontline-art-fair-13.jpg" alt="If you did you were confronted by a gang of Takahiro Komuro sculptures." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="389" class="imgcaption" />
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/tokyo-frontline-art-fair-14.jpg" alt="The upstairs 'Gym' space was more conventional in its layout, with two pathways of gallery booths." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="389" class="imgcaption" />
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/tokyo-frontline-art-fair-15.jpg" alt="In the middle, a hanging light installation by Yuichi Higashionna." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="383" class="imgcaption" />
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/tokyo-frontline-art-fair-16.jpg" alt="At the Snow Contemporary gallery booth, sculptures by Hideki Iinuma were from his 'Sniper Girls Collection' series. The artist, long resident in Europe and showing in Japan for the first time, based the 3D works on photos he took of shoppers on the street." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="389" class="imgcaption" />
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/tokyo-frontline-art-fair-17.jpg" alt="At Korea's Gallery Jinsun booth, Kim Byung-Jin's 'Apple-love' was one of several fruit objects formed out of brand motifs." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="389" class="imgcaption" />
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/tokyo-frontline-art-fair-18.jpg" alt="Many of the galleries were non-Japanese or fairly young. Mori Yu Gallery, though, was one of the established names participating, here with more Hiroshi Fuji." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="389" class="imgcaption" />
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/tokyo-frontline-art-fair-19.jpg" alt="The 'Gym' space was in fact taking place in the old school gymnasium, as witnessed by some of the leftover fittings." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="389" class="imgcaption" />
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/tokyo-frontline-art-fair-20.jpg" alt="Snow on the ground from the blizzard a few days before. As Tokyo heads into spring the art fair season has begun." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="389" class="imgcaption" />

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At the Front Line

At the special preview on Thursday night this year’s fair at the International Forum did seem quieter, with 138 exhibitors (down slightly from 143 in 2009). Though there was the noticeable absence of major galleries like <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/33F93416.en">Mizuma</a>, <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/D294405C.en">Wako </a>and <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/51A56F7D.en">Radi-um</a> — as well as, except for an event at <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/event/2010/43FA">Vacant</a>, the even more noticeable and lamented absence of a satellite fair — it was business as usual: hundreds of booths, featuring everything from antiques to contemporary art, nihonga to sculpture. Those looking to purchase art works aside, “Art Fair Tokyo” is a good chance simply to see the big galleries represented all in one place, and also an opportunity to take in Hong Kong, Korean and Chinese galleries’ work.
As with last year there was a second space, now called “Projects”, hosting the ‘hip’ and up-and-coming galleries. This time it wasn’t relegated to a separate building but located on the ground floor, in fact probably encountered by visitors before they even enter the main exhibition area. Here there were some new entries into the art fair world: <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/67122B49.en">Zen Foto</a>, <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/89223242.en">Asian Collection</a>, and <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/E610C8D2.en">Yuka Contemporary</a>, among others.
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/art-fair-tokyo-2010-1.jpg" alt="The usual dilemma of where to start at such a vast event." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="346" class="imgcaption" />
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/art-fair-tokyo-2010-2.jpg" alt="Gallery Koyanagi went all out for a minimalist booth this year." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="346" class="imgcaption" />
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/art-fair-tokyo-2010-13.jpg" alt="Osamu Kokufu, 'parabolic garden' (2010). Eco art on legs at Art Court Gallery, Osaka." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="384" class="imgcaption" />
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/art-fair-tokyo-2010-5.jpg" alt="Julian Opie-esque video screen paintings by Masaharu Sato, at the imura art gallery (Kyoto) booth caught the eye." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="346" class="imgcaption" />
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/art-fair-tokyo-2010-3-tomio-koyama.jpg" alt="Tomio Koyama hard at work meeting and greeting all the visitors. The large sculpture 'girl' (2009) by Rieko Otake is in the foreground." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="346" class="imgcaption" />
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/art-fair-tokyo-2010-6.jpg" alt="Nara Yoshitomo works on the wall of the Tomio Koyama booth." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="257" height="385" class="imgcaption floatl" /><img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/art-fair-tokyo-2010-4.jpg" alt="Berengo Akatsu Collection was giving out free ice cream to visitors, surely a guaranteed way to pull in the punters." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="257" height="385" class="imgcaption floatl" /> 
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/art-fair-tokyo-2010-12.jpg" alt="The second space, 'Projects', this year was held on the ground floor, divided into two areas." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="346" class="imgcaption" />
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/art-fair-tokyo-2010-11.jpg" alt="" title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="346" class="imgcaption" />
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/art-fair-tokyo-2010-8.jpg" alt="Art fairs are usually marked by rows of uniform white booths, so galleries that try something different stand out. Yukari Art Contemporary converted their space into an installation by Osaka unit Yodogawa-Technique." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="346" class="imgcaption" />
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/art-fair-tokyo-2010-7.jpg" alt="Yodogawa-Technique's work is characterized by its re-used materials." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="346" class="imgcaption" />
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/art-fair-tokyo-2010-9.jpg" alt="A moment of calm. 'Yoga - prana' (2010) by Ikki Miyake at the Yokoi Fine Art booth." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="346" class="imgcaption" />
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/art-fair-tokyo-2010-10.jpg" alt="'Storage Element' by Kouji Simon, at the Gallery Simon booth." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="257" height="385" class="imgcaption floatl" /><img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/art-fair-tokyo-2010-14.jpg" alt="Hiroshi Ohashi, ''Onotsukuni' (2010), at Wada Fine Arts." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="257" height="385" class="imgcaption floatl" />

article_7276

Art Fair Tokyo 2010

There were the best of times — but perhaps also the worst of times.
We peruse some of the arts news tidings from the last twelve months.
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/hideki-noda-egg.jpg" title="Hideki Noda's 'Egg' at Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre" alt="" width="518" height="345" class="imgcaption" />[Image via <a href="http://blog.engekilife.com/2012/09/egg.html" target="_blank">Engeki Life</a>]
February
Writer Ellie Omiya’s interactive exhibition at Parco, <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/event/2012/039C">“Conveying Thoughts”</a>, proved a big hit with fans (12,000 visitors!) — so much so that she has created a <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/event/2012/BFB7">sequel for 2013</a>.
March
After being cancelled in the wake of the Tohoku and Fukushima disasters last year, <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/event/2012/3EDB">Roppongi Art Night</a> returned with its usual array of family-friendly colour and balloons.
April
Takashi Murakami then conquered the world… from the sands of Doha, Qatar, with his “Ego” exhibition.
In Tokyo, meanwhile, Hikarie opened in Shibuya, hosting several art galleries, a theatre and more shops than you could ever hope for… The <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/event/2012/6E7A">“Katsuhiro Otomo: Genga (Original Drawings)”</a> exhibition also proved immensely popular at 3331 Arts Chiyoda.
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/katsuhiro-otomo-akira-genga-3331-arts-chiyoda-2.jpg" alt="'Katsuhiro Otomo: Genga' exhibition at 3331 Arts Chiyoda" title="Courtesy of the organizers" width="518" height="346" class="imgcaption" />
May
The much-anticipated Tokyo Sky Tree finally opened (on a very wet day) and so far the fanfare has proved justifiable. Despite the steep admission, the new landmark in east Tokyo is packing in camera-clicking visitors.
Also in May, the fringe theatre world was rocked by a minor scandal when Banana Gakuen Theatre Company, known for its highly aggressive performances where audiences are pelted and “attacked”, was accused of going too far in the way it literally handled audience members who had been dragged on stage. A male, masked performer may or may not have groped a female spectator and the resulting explosion of criticism — only conducted by unconnected third parties within the safe confines of Twitter, natch — resulted in the company first having its next engagements cancelled, and then eventually the group being forced to disband.
Putting aside the veracity of the claims and the whole art vs. legal technicalities argument, such Twitter-lynching is becoming an alarming trend in Japan and having a serious effect on the temerity of fringe artists.
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/adrian-favell-before-after-superflat.jpeg" alt="" title="Adrian Favell's Before and After Superflat" width="518" height="362" class="imgcaption" />
July
Adrian Favell, a British academic based in France (albeit a very frequent visitor to these shores), set off a firestorm for daring to criticize the business practices of Yoshitomo Nara. Ironically enough, he had already used the same text in his just-published book, Before and After Superflat — but it was not until he put an <a href="http://www.art-it.asia/u/rhqiun/9wL3d8W0aOtiDQqBlzxu" target="_blank">excerpt online</a> and got it translated (not so sensitively, apparently), that Nara, the Untouchable God of Japanese Comtemporary Art, reacted on Twitter and rallied his supporters to lynch the unwitting foreign upstart.
Favell really got himself into hot water by bringing up questions not on the merits of Nara’s art, but rather his slacker, seemingly innocuous professional modus operandi (which possibly exploits others). It is curious, though, that it was only after the extract appeared online and in Japanese translation that the proverbial you-know-what hit the fan. It seems that books don’t cut the mustard in these digital days.
What seemed to irk and rile was not so much Favell’s analytical flights as his breezy writing style (which does not translate well), the reliance on hearsay and seemingly second-hand sources, and the absence of footnotes or references to back up what, for example, Nara was meant to have said once in passing. A <a href="http://www.art-it.asia/u/admin_ed_sp2_e/5KsBcfC0IJLgXx879d6S/?lang=ja">compilation of the disputed points</a> has now also been published.
This blogger at any rate is a big advocate of taking Murakami, Nara et al down a peg or two (or many, many pegs in fact), and stating their business ‘acumen’ in the harsh black and white that it deserves. Ashley Rawlings has <a href="http://artspacetokyo.com/blog/archives/reconsidering_the_historical_pantheon/">pointed out</a>, though, the book’s non-academic approach makes it accessible but people with more knowledge of the scene may be surprised by the omission of some galleries and artists.
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/naoto-fukasawa-japan-folk-crafts-museum.jpeg" title="Naoto Fukasawa, the new director of the Japan Folk Crafts Museum" alt="" width="518" height="345" class="imgcaption" />
Also this month albeit with less contention, the <a href="http://www.mizu-tsuchi.jp/" target="_blank">Water and Land – Niigata Art Festival 2012</a> opened (this year there is also the <a href="http://www.echigo-tsumari.jp/eng/about/" target="_blank">Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale</a> in the region too), and designer Naoto Fukasawa was appointed to be director of the Japan Folk Crafts Museum. Plus Ryuichi Sakamoto, Kraftwerk and friends played a weekend of No Nukes Concerts at Makuhari Messe (and online on Ustream).
September
Popular known as “Geigeki”, the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre in Ikebukuro opened after over a year of major renovation work. Its first major production was “Egg”, a satiric look at Olympic fever, written and directed by the venue’s artistic director, Hideki Noda.
October
In October Tokyo Station also re-opened, cleaned, improved… and with <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/9756928A">art spaces too</a>!
October and November then saw <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/event/2012/60D6">“Trans Art Tokyo”</a> occupy the soon-to-be-demolished Tokyo Denki University building, though the scale of the venue seemed to overwhelm visitors.
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/trans-art-tokyo.jpeg" alt="The former Tokyo Denki University building" title="© TRANS ARTS TOKYO" width="518" height="346" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-11277" srcset="https://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/trans-art-tokyo.jpeg 518w, https://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/trans-art-tokyo-300x200.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 518px) 100vw, 518px" />
Political Effects
A string of art exhibitions and other events were cancelled in both China and Japan as relations between the two countries soured during the autumn’s Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands dispute. With a new Prime Minister installed, we are waiting to see what effect this has on the diplomacy — and then, by extension, on the art world. Well, thank god for small mercies; at least Tokma did not get elected as Tokyo Governor.
A Big Year For…
Yayoi Kusama, or at least her gallery and management, proved their usual adept selves at traversing both yet more fashion brand collaborations and also major exhibitions at the Tate Modern and in Japan.
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/gutai-jiro-yoshihara.jpg" alt="Jiro Yoshihara 'Red Circle on Black' (1965), exhibited at 'GUTAI – The Spirit of an Era' exhibition at the National Art Center, Tokyo" title="Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art" width="518" height="413" class="imgcaption" />
Re-appreciation at last
And finally… Mono-ha and GUTAI, two post-war art movements probably deemed rather esoteric by most of the Murakami generation of art fans, both continued to gain in recognition this year, with large-scale exhibitions abroad and domestically (a sort of de facto Mono-ha revival has been underway since last year). A current MoMA exhibition in New York is also assessing the oeuvre of Japanese post-war avant-garde arts.
A condensed version of this article first appeared in Japanese in the November-December <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/resources/doc/artmap.en">Tokyo Art Beat Art Map</a>. For an in-depth look at the exhibitions and art events in 2012, see TABlog’s <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2012/12/2012-year-in-review.html">Year in Review</a> article.

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2012: A Year of Arts News in Japan

Arts Initiative Tokyo recently staged an exhibition with two of their artists-in-residence, supported by the Backers Foundation. The title and theme was “Paper Plays”, featuring unusual paper works.
Indian-born Minam Apang has studied in Illinois and Leeds, as well as living in New York, before settling in Bangalore. She is known for her experimentation with automatic drawing and spontaneous blotting work. Argentine Florencia Rodriguez Giles has exhibited in her home country and Brazil, and creates collages works as well as hypnotic photographs of ghost-like figures.
TABlog went along to the recent artist talk they gave for the exhibition and spoke to the pair.
Minam, you’ve travelled, studied and lived in a lot of different cultures. How have you found Tokyo during your three month residency?
Minam: Tokyo is overwhelming. Sometimes it is too much, I don’t like to go to Shibuya! We are always fascinated by Japan in India, Miyazaki’s anime and all that. I always wanted to come here.
You mention anime there. Has there been any direct Japanese influence on your past work or the work for this current exhibition?
Minam: I was not researching like that. I don’t want to make something structured. I don’t like to do too much research. I just want to observe. 
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/minam-apang1.jpg" alt="Minam Apang, 'Hillside Stories: A dog brings the shadow, remembering Hachiko' (2009)" title="Cotton thread, synthetic glue, 400 gsm fabriano cold press archival paper,
ash wood table. 26x56x15cm (paper work); 35x90x40cm (table)" width="518" height="389" class="imgcaption" /> 
Your tribe has no written language and many of its myths and historical stories were not collected until recent anthropological work. In your pieces you have transcribed this heritage very minutely on the paper.
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/minam-apang1.jpg" alt="Minam Apang" title="Photo: William Andrews" width="257" height="210" class="imgcaption floatl" />Minam: Not always the stories, sometimes it was just my personal writing. I was thinking about the history and the story and writing it on top.
But you’ve written over and over on it, so that in the end you cannot read the words.
Minam: It’s not accessible, you cannot read it. It’s a continuous process, I’m not always thinking exactly what it is.
This is about an absence of words, the inability of written language to express culture. You have previously worked spontaneously a lot, with automatic drawing. Is there a conflict between trying to be spontaneous and free, but also trying to express a complicated cultural message?
Minam: You’re always questioning when you’re making something, who you are, what you’re doing. So I went back to these stories and made these deliberate connections. My work now is not as spontaneous.
The scale for your early work was very big, including scrolls several feet tall. But your current work here is small, presented on low tables.
Minam: This is because of the space I was working in. [The large works] were displayed on the floor. [In Japan] I was given a studio but there are no windows. So I work in my apartment. But I don’t have a desk, it’s very small. It’s a result from where I work. It’s organic that way.
Can you tell us about the use of the threads between the folded paper in the works? And what about the folded paper structure?
Minam: The threads are like the telephone wires I saw in Tokyo, which I think are really, really beautiful. Many people think the telephone wires are ugly but that is what [Japan] is doing, it is happening organically. In the tea ceremony there are many bowls in different shapes. It is asymmetrical. The folds are like mountains. I was thinking of the hanging bridges from my home region. Also there were many bridges in Mumbai but they are no longer there. They are very old bridges. 
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/florencia-giles-work.jpg" alt="Florencia Rodriguez Giles, from the series 'Bring me people so that I may eat them and give them new life' (2009)" title="30x50cm. Ink and gouache on paper" width="518" height="356" class="imgcaption" /> 
Your work is very sincere and has a strong message. But the exhibition is called “Paper Play”.
Minam: The title is because both Florencia and I worked with paper, our works refer either directly or obliquely to theater and display a playful experiementation with paper as well. I need my practice to be something playful and enjoyable. The beauty of drawing is that each mark you make is an unpredictable moment, full of promise where the line may take you.
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/florencia-giles2.jpg" alt="Florencia Rodriguez Giles" title="Photo: WA" width="257" height="145" class="imgcaption floatl" />Florencia, you are very interested in theatre and have been seeing some performances in Japan.
Florencia: I took some Butoh classes in Yokohama with [Yoshito] Ohno. I saw some traditional theatre. I was especially fascinated in Noh because there is some relationship between the sacred and art and also because I’m interested in non-realistic theatre.
Yes, your work often plays with this dichotomy between realism and fiction. Your earlier work contains photographs of strange ghost-like figures which look like Butoh dancers. The material – photography – and the tone is quite different from the work displayed in this exhibition.
Florencia: I have always used drawing to think my works, even for this project of photography, but I’ve never exhibited them. This time I decided to show them in order to bring people closer to the process of a fictional work. The drawings and writings are ideas, thoughts, sensations that appeared during these three months in Tokyo. About the tone, I used to think each project as an organism that has their specific needs.
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/florencia-giles1.jpg" alt="Florencia Rodriguez Giles, 'Fictional Islands' (2009)" title="Pencil, markers, water colors, paper, photograph prints. 350x300cm" width="257" height="457" class="imgcaption floatr" />Why are you so interested in ghosts?
Florencia: I am not interested in ghosts! I am interested in mythology and fiction. They appear ‘as’ phantoms, as characters that are condemned to act the same script over and over again.
It is theatre again.
Florencia: Yes.
The work here is a wall collage of photographs, drawings, text and even a rock. It is very wide and spread out.
Florencia: When I came here I felt very schizophrenic in a way and I tried to work as I felt. The Japanese syncretic and pragmatic ability to nurture from other cultures as their own – and the free way in which they mix anything as they wish – was a big inspiration in order to make the decision to combine for the first time drawings, digital images, photographs and writings.
This is an interesting partnership. Although your work looks very different, there are similar themes. Minam writes her country’s old myths on her work. And you are interested in fictional mythology.
Florencia: Yes, but in a way it’s completely different. For Minam the mythology is part of her history, for me it’s only fiction. I have no religious or mythological background and maybe that is why I’m so interested in finding one.
Florencia and Minam, thank you for speaking with us.

article_4259

Mythical Paper

<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/art-fair-tokyo-2012-3.jpg" alt="Visitors are first greeted by Tetsuya Nakamura's '2012 Mercedes Benz Japan Art Car SLK 350', setting the tone that this is certainly a commercial event." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="389" class="imgcaption" />
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/art-fair-tokyo-2012-2.jpg" alt="This year it felt more roomy at the venue, as usual, the Tokyo International Forum. The number of gallery booths, though, was still 138, around the same as in 2011." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="389" class="imgcaption" />
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/art-fair-tokyo-2012-1.jpg" alt="However, there is no second space this year. In previous years the fair has featured another 'annex' either in a nearby building or on the ground floor of the International Forum, showcasing up-and-coming galleries. This meant there was a notable absence of the younger generation of art spaces, such as Take Ninagawa, Mujin-to, Nanzuka Underground and ShugoArts." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="389" class="imgcaption" />
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/art-fair-tokyo-2012-16.jpg" alt="As before, some major commercial galleries did not participate, such as Mizuma Art Gallery, Wako Works of Art, Koyanagi Gallery and Misa Shin Gallery (the latter, run by the former director of Art Fair Tokyo!).
There were still plenty of big names, though, such as here, Tomio Koyama at his gallery's booth, and also Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo +BTAP and more." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="389" class="imgcaption" />
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/art-fair-tokyo-2012-19.jpg" alt="Last year, the 'Shuffle' exhibition was held at the Shirokane gallery complex as a satellite event. This time it was incorporated into the fair itself, with selected artists from such venues as Nanzuka Underground, Yokoi Fine Arts, ShugoArts and Mizuma Art Gallery.
Here, Makoto Sasaki's 'YATSUKAHIGE (God of destruction and recreation)' on the left, and 'coma' by Junichi Mori on the right." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="389" class="imgcaption" />
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/art-fair-tokyo-2012-20.jpg" alt="It was a darkly lit, quasi-religious exhibition, quite at odds with the main fair and its stately emporium atmosphere. Staying true to its name, 'Shuffle II' even threw ancient Jomon pottery into the mystical mix! 
Here Makoto Sasaki's 'HITOGATA ancestor's spirit', like a miniature Butoh dancer, stands next to Yuji Honburu's 'Butsu', a cardboard Buddha statue that was also exhibited in last year's fair." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="389" class="imgcaption" />
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/art-fair-tokyo-2012-10.jpg" alt="In fact, several galleries featured the same artists' work as for the 2011 fair, such as Hiroo Amano, again at Tsubaki Modern Gallery." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="389" class="imgcaption" />
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/art-fair-tokyo-2012-13.jpg" alt="Chiaki Kohara was drawing attention for her cosplay style and super-kawaii sculpture and paintings at the DMO Arts booth from Osaka." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="257" height="343" class="imgcaption floatl" /><img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/art-fair-tokyo-2012-7.jpg" alt="Another Osaka gallery, YOD Gallery, was more subdued, with this hanging installation by Hiroshi Shinno taking up their little booth." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="257" height="343" class="imgcaption floatl" /> 
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/art-fair-tokyo-2012-15.jpg" alt="At the S. Watanabe Color Print Co. booth, artist Shimizu Ryuhow was fun, especially her hair. Her main piece, 'mother 002', was a health-themed installation of a child inside a medical capsule, which monitored its life signs. Modeled on a real infant the artist knows, it is intended to turn everyone into the sick child's mother." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="389" class="imgcaption" />
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/art-fair-tokyo-2012-12.jpg" alt="Traditional but very buyable, Holly Farrell's paintings at Megumi Ogita Gallery booth." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="389" class="imgcaption" />
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/art-fair-tokyo-2012-11.jpg" alt="Multi-media and digital signage designers teamLab had a space too." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="389" class="imgcaption" />
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/art-fair-tokyo-2012-18.jpg" alt="Staff at SCAI The Bathhouse's booth get their photo taken. Behind them are works from Kohei Nawa's 'Direction' series." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="389" class="imgcaption" />
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/art-fair-tokyo-2012-17.jpg" alt="At Gallery Murakoshi, Kayo Sato's fluffy animals wore gas masks." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="389" class="imgcaption" />
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/art-fair-tokyo-2012-21.jpg" alt="From Re-Birth Project – which was set up recently by actor Yusuke Iseya – Kisho Okunishi's 'Genkidama' was like an offerings box at a Shinto shrine, with Akira Fujimoto's '¥€$' spelling a financial 'Yes' in the background." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="389" class="imgcaption" />
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/art-fair-tokyo-2012-9.jpg" alt="Yoshiyuki Ooe at the Tezukayama Gallery booth." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="257" height="343" class="imgcaption floatl" /><img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/art-fair-tokyo-2012-8.jpg" alt="Fumio Yamazaki's pigs from imura art gallery." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="257" height="343" class="imgcaption floatl" /> 
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/art-fair-tokyo-2012-4.jpg" alt="At Nishimura Gallery, 'A Silent Mirror' by Katsura Funakoshi was juxtaposed with Atsuhiko Misawa's bears." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="389" class="imgcaption" />
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/art-fair-tokyo-2012-23.jpg" alt="Yamamoto Gendai brought along a large sculpture by Keisuke Tanaka, 'Kaiten'." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="257" height="343" class="imgcaption floatl" /><img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/art-fair-tokyo-2012-22.jpg" alt="The Ullens Center for Contemporary Art were exhibiting Chinese artists but these works by Teppei Kaneuji were at the entrance to their space." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="257" height="343" class="imgcaption floatl" /> 
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/art-fair-tokyo-2012-5.jpg" alt="By far the most impressive work we saw was at Snow Contemporary, where voice artist Fuyuki Yamakawa (pictured) was installing his sound exhibit, 'Atomic Guitar'. The instruments and speakers were hooked up to radiation sensors; as the level of radioactivity rises, it the sounds 'played' on the guitars change." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="389" class="imgcaption" />
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/art-fair-tokyo-2012-6.jpg" alt="The measurement will be taken on soil pilfered from the grounds of the nearby Imperial Palace." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="257" height="343" class="imgcaption floatl" /><img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/art-fair-tokyo-2012-14.jpg" alt="Yoshio Yoshimura used a pencil to draw large portraits onto newspapers at the Mizoe Art Gallery booth." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="257" height="343" class="imgcaption floatl" /> 
Here is a video of a previous performance of Fuyuki Yamakawa’s ‘Atomic Guitar’ series.
<iframe width="518" height="380" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/RWbnoongh84" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

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Art Fair Tokyo 2012

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Tokyo Frontline 2012 & G-tokyo 2012

Nanzuka have started their new residency with an installation by Akiyoshi Mishima that can only be described as clinically sado-masochistic. The stark white walls of the gallery pierce through wooden beams arranged all over the ceiling, which appear to hang so low you have to stoop a little (in reality, perhaps only the case for tall gaijin). At various joints or at positions around the walls like the Ways of the Cross were several ‘masks’ – made out of shoes for the most part – which despite their material banality seemed ethnological, pseudo-Native American. Entangled in the wooden beams were also video screens depicting masked animal figures fornicating (albeit not even soft core). Wandering into the room was a nervous and queasy experience, the exhibition a heady mix of white-painted walls filtered through sex and leather. 
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/nanzuka1.jpg" alt="Akiyoshi Mishima, 'Family'" title="Photo by Keizo Kioku" width="518" height="345" class="imgcaption" /> 
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/nanzuka2.jpg" alt="Akiyoshi Mishima, 'Family'" title="Photo by Keizo Kioku" width="518" height="345" class="imgcaption" /> 
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/animalsculptures1.jpg" alt="Motohiko Odani, 'SP4 the specter - What wonders around in every mind' (2009)
H230xW235xD105cm
FRP, cloth, horsehair and other media" title="Photo: Keizo Kioku
Courtesy of YAMAMOTO GENDAI" width="257" height="323" class="imgcaption floatr" />In the same building, Yamamoto Gendai’s latest exhibition is the alarmingly but obscurely named “SP4: ‘the specter’ in modern sculpture” by Motohiko Odani. It is dominated by a massive horse-rider sculpture, a work that appears to have trotted in from a travelling show of Dr. Gunther von Hagen’s “Body Worlds”. The rider carried an impressive sword. His eyes boggled out. His ferocity was arresting. People milled around this startling man and his beast, unsure whether to be impressed by the scale, the craftsmanship or scared by its sense of imminent attack.
The horse-rider is an archetypal motif in sculpture; how many parks contain such images of heroes and feted generals? But there was nothing grand or stately about this work; it was gothic and repellant. The artist has stated that his aim was to look again at the sculptural interpretation of bravery in equestrian figures. Indeed, the surface of the sculpture had been made to appear like it was rotting. It was like being in a white cube gallery with a Horseman of the Apocalypse, with the skeletal undead.
Turning away from the warrior you were immediately taken by another life-size sculpture, one whose tone and theme could not be more different. A beautiful nude of a woman stands, inconspicuously, unpretentiously alone. Seeming to have been snatched straight out of the Louvre, it was perhaps one of the most beautiful nude sculptures I had ever seen and certainly the best I had ever seen in Japan – and totally different to the usual works that Yamamoto Gendai offers (of which the ‘Horse Rider’ is quite representative).
The skin had some red swirls on it; the hair a large ornamental flower. But essentially this was an incredibly pure and honest sculpture. The press release claims the work to be a reinterpretation of the western “paean to human beauty” that is the nude, but far from subverting, this sculpture simply reinforces the paradigm. However, any failure in philosophy did not let down the work – and readers should head down to Shirokane for this sculpture alone. 
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/animalsculptures2.jpg" alt="'SP4: ‘the specter’ in modern sculpture' exhibition view" title="Photo: Keizo Kioku
Courtesy of YAMAMOTO GENDAI" width="518" height="400" class="imgcaption" />

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Animal Masks, Animal Sculptures

With only three works — one large, two small — Manabu Ikeda’s untitled exhibition might sound disappointing. But what it lacks in volume it easily makes up in detail, for the main painting is indeed a showcase for the artist’s consummate skill with the minute and his bravado scale.
The central piece ‘Foretoken’ depicts a typical Ikeda vision: a world contained in the shape of a wave. From afar the overall form is very apparent but the closer one gets the less marine it seems – the viewer is engulfed in the detail of the world, and one realizes that in fact there is very little water depicted. This gimmick makes for an interesting experience in the small gallery room, an almost physical change in the viewing process as you makes your way from the door up to the white line marking how close you can peer at the miniature.
<img class="imgcaption" title="Photo by Yasuhide Kuge, © IKEDA Manabu, Courtesy Mizuma Art Gallery" src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/manabuikeda3.jpg" alt="Manabu Ikeda, 'Foretoken' (2008)
Pen, acrylic ink on paper, mounted on board. 190 x 340cm" width="518" height="288" />
I call it a ‘miniature’ (saimitsuga) because that is the genre name bandied around by the gallery and the journalists. However, I am not satisfied with this term, since Ikeda’s work is nothing like the manuscript miniature tradition of the west, and much more an obvious part of the ‘neo-nihonga’ generation of painters revolving around Mizuma Gallery.
The term is probably employed because of the microscopic detail in the work. Indeed, the viewer becomes lost as their eyes explore all the figures and scenes happening in the painting. From the mundane (factories, fishing), to the fun (Shinto shrines, parachutists, koinobori) and the emotive (a foetus in a womb formed out of the very crest of the wave): this is an entire urban world, with a scale something akin to George Cruikshank’s ‘The Worship of Bacchus’ crossed with Where’s Waldo.
The pale colours, achieved by pen and acrylic, recall nihonga and of course ukiyoe (in particular Hokusai). Like Hisashi Tenmyouya and Gaku Azuma, Ikeda is imitating past forms of Japanese painting. But rather than using it as a way of engaging with the present (as, say, Makoto Aida does with his polemic), there is something irritatingly juvenile about his subject matter. One cannot deny the breathtaking detail — but you asks yourself how different is this to manga or the book covers of sci-fi pulp fiction.
Taking a step back (literally) and looking at the painting anew, you are struck by its apocalyptic nature; it is almost biblical, with its fires and accidents, the fractured hulls of ships and planes buried in the wave. And this wave itself, it is in fact a giant towering form, on the verge of crashing down. This is a violent depiction of disaster, collapse. The end of the world. But then look at the other pieces, two smaller works showing monsters and dragons, again attractively and cleverly represented. Aren’t these just posters for teenage boys?
<img class="imgcaption" title="Photo by Yasuhide Kuge, ©IKEDA Manabu, Courtesy Mizuma Art Gallery" src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/manabuikeda1.jpg" alt="Manabu Ikeda, 'Foretoken' (2008) (detail)
Pen, acrylic ink on paper, mounted on board 190x340cm" width="518" height="408" />
This kind of painting is pop. Along with the other artists who emerged from galleries like Koyama, this is a style of colour and impact. It appropriates past genre and technique, and beguilingly turns it into something queasily contemporary with hints of the past.
Tenmyouya may believe himself to be a rebel in the spirit of historical warrior figures, but I rather think his ‘counter-culture’ is merely a cynical, and successful, attempt to pander to the juvenile tendencies in the Japanese consumer and the naïve delights of the overseas market. Those samurai acrylic paintings arrest you; it is a screen painting but it looks like graffiti – and the samurai has an Uzi. This is seduction, impressing the viewer with its technique and form, and yet offering no substance.
I confess. I too was initially taken in by the visceral charms of Ikeda, Akira Yamaguchi et al. But how I yearn for some sincerity. Instead we have ruthless commercialism. Yayoi Kusama making t-shirts for Uniqlo. Takashi Murakami and his corporation.
For colour and flair, I recommend Manabu Ikeda. For depth, I cannot.

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Waves of Detail

It is immediate to any visitor or resident interested in going to see an exhibition that Tokyo does not have a single gallery area to the extent of, say, New York. The galleries are spread around the city and trying to see a few of them in a day means you clock up a lot of train time.
A handful of powerhouse buildings dominate, each of which contains multiple small galleries. This means a visit can be more fruitful than you think, though you do end up having to choose just one or two districts to cover in a single outing.
Nevertheless, there is a benefit to this diaspora — you get to travel to different areas of the city (especially as many of the areas are the less affluent ones) and each district takes on its own character, especially on opening nights where multiple galleries hold parties.
Kiyosumi Shirakawa
No one interested in art in Tokyo can fail to miss this area and its one main building. The industrial hulk seems to creak and leak paint as you step inside. The lift is a giant service operation with an archaic, obscurantist process (it only goes to certain floors, the doors do not close automatically). Entering this building is not an experience, it is a commitment.
Inside you will find <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/53785C88.en">Tomio Koyama</a>, <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/7F3D87D4.en">Kido Press</a>, <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/8D23E7FD.en">Shugoarts</a>, <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/C5262EDE.en">Miyake Fine Art</a>, <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/DD74E81F.en">Taka Ishii</a> and <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/951100AB.en">hiromiyoshii</a> — who mostly co-ordinate opening night receptions together.
*Update: <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/A64462FF.en">Sprout Curation</a> and <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/F18364ED.en">Ai Kowada Gallery</a> have now also moved into this building.
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/kagurazaka-beginners-guide.jpg" alt="The Kagurazaka gallery building, down a hill, behind a shrine, and a printers and a etc etc..." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="346" class="imgcaption" />
Kagurazaka
In a obscure road behind a printworks near a shrine in Kagurazaka is an industrial building not dissimilar to the Kiyosumi Shirokawa one.
Inside there is <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/65F25943.en">Mori Yu</a> (see this <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2008/02/mori-yo-gallery-tokyo-openkagurazaka-information.html">TABlog photo report </a>from when it opened), and joined in 2009 by <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/2CB01D66.en">Ohshima Fine Arts.</a> However, despite what the sign outside says, Yuka Sasahara recently moved out (to Iwamotocho), as did the Takahashi Collection (to <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/19C09B0E.en">Hibiya</a>).
Shirokane
The plush <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2008/01/gallery-building-opens-in-shirokane.html">Shirokane building</a> features the second <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/19C09B0E">Takahashi Collection</a> space (not open much these days) and <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/55F19D4A">Yamamoto Gendai</a>, Kodama, and now <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/69883021.en">Nanzuka Underground</a>. <a href="http://www.outofplace.jp">TOKIO Out of Place</a> and <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/45CA4009.en">The Last Gallery </a>are also nearby.
*Update: <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/1903D164.en">Misa Shin Gallery</a> has also now opened nearby, but Nanzuka Underground has moved back to Shibuya and rechristened itself Nanzuka.
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/shirokanegalleryblock1.jpg" alt="The Shirokane gallery builden is hidden away in a nondescript building in a residential area. Only the crowds gathered for the opening gave away the location to first time visitors." class="imgcaption" title="Photo: Ashley Rawlings" width="518" />
Ginza
Ginza might be home to a lot of department stores and brand outlets leagues out of the budget of a TAB blogger, but Tokyo’s first western-style district also has some very reliable galleries. Two spaces not to be under-rated here are the commercial showrooms, <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/8FD4795B.en">Shiseido </a>and <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/52276C8D.en">Maison Hermes</a>. Time and again they have demonstrated their ability to curate stunning shows of contemporary Japanese artists.
<a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/AD3B2DA2.en">Arataniurano</a>, <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/B926470D.en">Megumi Ogita </a>(recently moved from its postage stamp-sized old location) and <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/5693F25A.en">Gallery Koyanagi </a>are the main players here, amongst a sea of rental galleries.
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/ebisugallerycomplex1.jpg" alt="The new NADiff building is hidden down a side street, just off a back street running along the Shibuya River in Ebisu." title="Photo: Ashley Rawlings" width="518" height="347" class="imgcaption" />
Ebisu
…is dominated by one mighty building, NADiff. Inside there is the eponymous bookstore and its <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/6B4DE589">basement gallery</a>, plus <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/619091A5.en">magical, ARTROOM</a>, <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/5F034758">G/P Gallery </a>and <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/299CD43A.en">Art Jam Contemporary</a>. (For more, see Ashley Rawlings’s excellent photo report on <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2008/07/new-gallery-building-opens-in-ebisu.html">the opening of the NADiff building</a>.) 
*Update: Art Jam Contemporary has closed down, and magical, ARTROOM is also no longer fully operating. The building now includes <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/554A91EC">MEM</a> and <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/23A60FA6">Traumaris, ‘Space’</a>, run by NADiff.
On the outer regions is <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/65B1F00B.en">Mizuma</a>, and <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/51F0DCEE.en">Aoyama/Meguro </a>and <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/D14BD639.en">Min Min</a>, all of which are walkable from Nakameguro Station.
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/bakurocho1.jpg" alt="JR Bakurocho, Bakuro-Yokoyama or Higashi Nihonbashi stations are all near the galleries in Bakurocho." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="257" height="457" class="imgcaption floatr" />Bakurocho
The big development of 2009 was the emergence of Bakurocho as the new art town in Tokyo, part of an overall rejuvenation of east Tokyo (witness the new Asakusa Tourist Centre being built and the Sky Tree).
<a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/46DB4F93">Alpham</a>, a non-profit gallery sponsored by Musashino Art University, is in the same building as <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/425FE967">Foil </a>and <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/83FBBC7D.en">Taro Nasu</a>. Along with a smattering of nice cafes and eateries, they join <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/51A56F7D">Radi-um</a> and <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/FA875462">CASHI</a>, among others, as galleries walkable from each other and Bakurocho station.
Slightly further afield is <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/7A0B4520.en">Zenshi</a>, which moved to a backstreet near Iwamotocho, and is sharing its space with <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/F553D047.en">Yuka Sasahara</a> (originally in Kagurazaka) from February.
TABlog published <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/2009/07/bakurocho-new-art-town.html">a photo report wander</a> around the new Bakurocho art district last summer.
*Update: <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/088D20C7">Fabre 8710</a> has also moved from Osaka to the Bakurocho area, although Foil Gallery has gone the other way, moving to Kyoto.
Others
There are too many others. But we should at least mention Hatsudai and Shinjuku, for <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/99B23CB3.en">Kenji Taki </a>and <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/D294405C.en">Wako Works of Art</a>. Plus <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/FA8AE572.en">Take Ninagawa </a>and <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/35914FB5.en">Gallery Side 2</a> in the Higashi-Azabu area, on the outskirts of Mori and NACT-dominated Roppongi, almost qualifying for another gallery area.
Sadly, <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/4353A332.en">SCAI The Bathhouse</a> is rather on its own in Yanaka, as is <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/AA4C0E94.en">Misako & Rosen</a> in Otsuka, and <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/6BEC23E5.en">Ota Fine Arts</a> in Kachidoki.
Taking the Tokyu Tokoyo line out to <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/8429CAF2">Yukari Art Contemporary </a> or <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/40CEC19F.en">Therme Gallery </a>is also often worthwhile.
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/bakurocho19.jpg" alt="Zenshi, recently moved from the Kiyosumi-Shirakawa building, near Iwamotocho Station, a short walk from Akihabara." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="292" class="imgcaption" />
Future
With Mizuma opening <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/33F93416.en">a new space </a>in the unlikely place of Ichigaya (and set to abandon its old home in Nakameguro when the lease is up in a couple of years), could this quiet central town become a haven for galleries? Well, the <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/C4EC53A8.en">Instituto Cervantes</a> is already there, and Iidabashi and Kagurazaka are just a stone’s throw away.
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/beginners-guide-galleries-mizuma.jpg" alt="The new Mizuma Gallery in the unlikely location of Ichigaya, Shinjuku-ku." title="Photo: William Andrews" width="518" height="346" class="imgcaption" />
Although Nanzuka Underground has moved out to Shirokane it has retained its original Shibuya home. <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/67122B49.en">Zen Foto</a>, a fantastic, small gallery specializing in the vibrant world of Chinese photography, rents the room next door. Nanzuka is set to return at some point and re-open its old gallery as an auxiliary space, making an unremarkable building in a Shibuya backstreet something rather dynamic and exciting.
*Update: Galleries have now been moving back to Roppongi, with Zen Foto relocating to a building that also includes Wako Works of Art, Ota Fine Arts and a <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/1A21DB85">second Taka Ishii space</a>.
For much, much more on Tokyo’s gallery background and topography, read <a href="http://artspacetokyo.com/">Art Space Tokyo</a>.

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A Beginner’s Guide to Tokyo Gallery Geography

<a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.ja/author/intern">Tokyo Art Beat’s interns</a> conducted a survey earlier this year of its users, hoping to glean information not just about the people who visit the website or use the <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/apps">apps</a> or <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/resources/doc/artmap">Art Map</a>, but also about the Tokyo art world in general.
The survey was kindly answered by 764 users, of which 239 were male and 525 were female.
Here’s a brief summary of the top results: 
– Female users outnumber male ones (as you might have guessed from the breakdown above of the respondents) 
– …and tend to be aged from their mid- to late twenties 
– …who visit art events two or three times a month 
– Favourite galleries and museums are the <a href="http://www.benesse-artsite.jp/en/teshima-artmuseum/index.html">Teshima Art Museum</a> (on Naoshima), <a href="http://www.kanazawa21.jp/en/">21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa</a>, <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/F994A9B7.en">21_21 Design Sight</a>, and <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/4A4AABB8">Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo</a> 
– The mobile phone of choice is the iPhone 
– Users are typically company employees or public servants, or doing something in the creative industries 
– And their preferred art event genres are painting, installations, photography or media art
<img class="imgcaption" src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/tab-survey1.jpeg" alt="" width="700" height="" />
Art-lovers are single!
So it seems in Tokyo at any rate. No doubt partly because art event visitor demographics often skewer younger, 82.2% of the survey respondents said they were single and, surprisingly, over 60% also said that they visit events on their own. (Phew, I’m not the only one! Literally.) In other words, Tokyo’s galleries might just be perfect places to find that special person!
Or are they? Only around 10% of respondents said that they go to events to meet new people. Over 90% said, as you’d expect, they went out of curiosity about an event, or due to work or to learn something new. And a mere 2% said they went in order to spend time with friends, family or lovers. Going to see an exhibition is apparently not a good date! (However, the top reasons for going to art event opening receptions or art talks was answered as in order to meet new people.)
<img class="imgcaption" src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/tab-survey2.jpeg" alt="" width="700" />
Sharing Impressions
Word of mouth and buzz are surely one of the top ways to attract visitors to a show that doesn’t have the mega advertising budget of events like the Yokohama Triennale. How are visitors sharing their impressions of events? Over 73% said they did it over Twitter — almost the same as who said they did it directly with other people. Also, around the same amount of users posted things on their own blogs (25.2%) as on Facebook, mixi or other SNS (29.4%), so it seems that tweeting is the digital platform of choice for TAB users by far.
<img class="imgcaption" src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/tab-survey3.jpeg" alt="" width="700" />
Artistic Influences
Sometimes getting to a gallery or museum in Tokyo is a real pain, in spite of the city’s superb transport system. Venues can be tucked away or far from stations, so what motivates or influences people to make that special effort to go to an exhibition? Practical factors like ticket price, or location or opening hours?
The most influential factor by far (78.6%) is whether there will be exhibits at the show from an artist users. This does not mean that people are completely shying away from things they are not already familiar with: over 50% said that the overall theme of the exhibition also influenced their decision to head out.
You can view the original version of this article in Japanese on TABlog JP (parts <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.ja/2011/10/todays-art-01.html">one</a>, <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.ja/2011/11/todays-art-02.html">two</a> and <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.ja/2011/12/todays-art-03.html">three</a>), where the results are digested in more detail.
Illustrations by Ayaka Sugiyama.

TAB Survey Results: Who are Tokyo’s art-lovers?

Event changes
Almost immediately, as we reported on <a href="http://twitter.com/TokyoArtBeat_EN">our Twitter feed</a>, a lot of major galleries and museums closed the day after the Tohoku-Kanto earthquake and tsunami hit. This was partly for safety as aftershocks continued and sometimes to repair damage. The uncertainty we have seen in some food supplies, (largely unfounded) radiation fears and the urgent need to conserve energy also led to large numbers of venues — possibly a majority of galleries — closing for most of the week following the earthquake.
Many have reopened since yesterday (Monday, March 21), especially commercial galleries, but some events have even been permanently cancelled or postponed, including most notably the annual large-scale extravaganza that is <a href="http://www.roppongiartnight.com/en/outline/index.html">“Roppongi Art Night”</a>. “Cloud Cities” by Tomas Saraceno at Maison Hermès has been postponed until further notice.
<del datetime="2011-03-22T09:27:32+00:00">At time of writing, however, “Art Fair Tokyo 2011”, the biggest event in the local art calendar, is set to go ahead as planned from the start of April.</del> *UPDATE: It has <a href="http://www.artfairtokyo.com/new/1896.html">now been announced</a> that “Art Fair Tokyo” is postponed! Currently it is re-scheduled for July 29 to 31.* This was due to the unavailability of the venue, Tokyo International Forum, as refugees are using it for shelter.
Galleries such as Yukari Contemporary have decided to hold exhibitions without reception parties and also not to have any events through the summer, in order to save electricity on air-conditioning during the humid season.
Wako Works of Art changed its exhibition plans and instead poignantly held Noritoshi Hirakawa’s <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/event/2011/AEB4">“In Reminiscence of the Sea”</a>, a series of photographs that feature nuclear power plants.
<a href="http://artgigtokyo.com/">“ArtGigTokyo”</a>, the twelve-hour performance art and music event in Shinjuku, will now be held on May 8.
Charitable efforts
The biggest announced response from a major gallery so far has been <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/DD74E81F">Taka Ishii Gallery</a>‘s decision to hold a special exhibition from March 20 to April 28. The <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/event/2011/60E6">“No Art” show</a> will, as the title suggests, feature no works of art on display but just a donation box for visitors to give money to the Japanese Red Cross Society. The planned Marijke van Warmerdam solo exhibition has been postponed.
Art writer Kiki Kudo led the way here, setting up a charity auction in Bakurocho on March 19. <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/67122B49.en">Zen Foto Gallery</a> and <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/venue/89223242">Tobin Ohashi Gallery</a> have both organized separate charity sales, and many rental galleries have responded by offering donations for works sold. Likewise, until the end of March all sales of the book <a href="http://artspacetokyo.com/">Art Space Tokyo</a> were donated to relief efforts.
Architect Shigeru Ban has also announced that he plans to <a href="http://www.shigerubanarchitects.com/SBA_NEWS/SBA_news_5.htm">contribute partitions</a> for refugees at evacuation centres in the afflicted areas, much as he helped victims of the Kobe Hanshin earthquake in 1995. He is now collecting donations for this project.
Spiral hosted a mini art fair called “Power of Art” (April 5 to 20), with dozens of works for sale priced between 100 yen and over 200 thousand. There were also free dance performances and talk events on many days, with audiences encouraged to make donations in lieu of paying for tickets.
Galleries in Kiyosumi helped organize the <a href="http://www.kiyosumicomplex.com/">“Silent Art Auction”</a> (April), a non-competitive bidding auction. Works were also on display at Tomio Koyama Gallery in the Kiyosumi Complex and you could bid in person or through the website. Auctioned artworks included those by Kishin Shinoyama, Tomoko Yoneda, Yoko Ono and Mika Ninagawa. It raised 38.5 million yen, donated to <a href="http://www.japanplatform.org/">Japan Platform</a>.
Over the same weekend in April the Mori Art Museum had its own <a href="http://www.mori.art.museum/jp/press-re/pdf/2011_20110407_e.pdf">Charity Art Sale</a> involving over twenty artists from around the world.
This is still an evolving situation; this article will be updated but also check <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/TokyoArtBeat_EN">TAB’s tweets</a> for the latest news as it emerges.

Tohoku-Kanto Earthquake and Tokyo Art World

Born to British and Japanese parents, <a href="http://www.sputniko.com/">Sputniko!</a> (Hiromi Ozaki) is a multi-media artist whose conceptual music videos went viral in 2010. Her popular ‘Menstruation Machine’ project centered on a video, ‘Takashi’s Take’, and conceived of a future where menstruation has been eradicated and a man called Takashi (Sputniko!) deciding to build a machine that would replicate the experience of having periods.
Her work has been featured in the <a href="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/event/2010/205A.en">“Tokyo Art Meeting: Transformation”</a> exhibition at Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo (late 2010-2011), and the <a href="http://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2011/talktome/">“Talk to Me”</a> design exhibition at MOMA (July-November, 2011), and recent collaborations include with brands like iida, Louis Vuitton, Prada and more.
Now you are being represented in the mainstream gallery world by SCAI The Bathhouse but you started off as a self-produced, self-promoted artist. How did all this come about?
It’s only recently that I have a gallery and a music agency. All of the work I’ve made and put on YouTube is work I’ve made on my own, except for the ‘Crowbot Jenny’ one.
I was at Imperial doing maths and computer science. And at Imperial College you have to take at least one Humanities subject before you graduate. I decided to take music because I like listening to music, and I was going to a lot of gigs and music festivals. And there was homework — we had to write five songs. I had never written songs before, never played instruments, but I just did my best. Because I listen to a lot of avant-garde music it was easier to write songs that were not good quality [musically] but were interesting.
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/sputniko-menstruation-machine.jpeg" alt="" title="Sputniko! 'Menstruation Machine' (2010)
Photo by Rai Royal" width="257" height="322" class="imgcaption floatr" />I graduated from Imperial College in 2006. At the graduation ceremony I was still twenty and I didn’t want to get a job straightaway. I decided to become a freelance programmer. At the time you were able to earn a lot. I could work just six months and then have six months free. I did that for two years and I thought I had to start building my career. Performing was a lot of fun but it didn’t seem like it was going anywhere. I thought I would go to the Royal College of Art. There was a course called Design Interactions that thinks about the relationship between culture, technology and people. I thought maybe I could fit in because I studied computer science and I wrote songs about technology. By the time I entered RCA I had already started making videos about Google and Skype. What I learned the most from the tutors at RCA was concept-building, and critical design and critical art. During the two years at RCA I really worked on how to make the fun stuff into something that is more conceptual.
The ‘Menstruation Machine’, ‘Sushiborg Yukari’ and ‘Crowbot Jenny’ videos shown at MOT and MoMA were my graduation projects. That’s how it developed, from music homework. Everything really is from music. I sort of just ended up becoming a contemporary artist.
How did your work go viral? How did it take off?
I had my work online for two years before people started talking about it and it was completely ignored. Some people say I came out suddenly, I became popular suddenly. Actually, people were telling me how bad at PR I was! I didn’t do anything; I just put my work online. It was organic and took two years.
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/sputniko-crowbot-jenny.jpeg" alt="" title="Sputniko! 'Crowbot Jenny' (2011)
Photo by Rai Royal" width="257" height="321" class="imgcaption floatl" />When ‘Menstruation Machine’ came out there was the first spark from blogs. I showed my work at the RCA graduation show and there was a writer from Wired there. He saw my work and he put my work on Wired, and from there Boing Boing and all the tech blogs wrote about it. And then I did the MOT show in Tokyo just months after graduating. The curator, Yuko Hasegawa, invited me to the exhibition while I was still a student. The curator from MoMA came to see the RCA show and she also decided there. It was very lucky.
The “projects” have a multiplicity that is very contemporary. They are both a video that exists digitally on the gallery of the internet, as well something conceptual (What if…?), and physical installations in museums and galleries, and then also accompanied by photographs (by <a href="http://rairoyal.co.uk/">Rai Royal</a>). You are also a big user of Twitter and social media. Would you describe yourself as a digital native artist?
When I was still a student I didn’t have enough money to hire staff, so I could go on Twitter and find people to help me. For ‘Menstruation Machine’ all the staff were gathered on Twitter. There were fifteen people on the day of the shoot. That was my only tool. Maybe if I were established I wouldn’t do it. Likewise, because I couldn’t show anywhere, I turned to YouTube as my gallery.
I think I am [a digital native artist] because I’ve been online since I was ten. My parents were very tech-savvy. I had my first website when I was thirteen and I was always using the web. It was natural. Your mind starts to work in different ways. Recently my Crowbot wasn’t working properly so I wrote about it on Twitter. And I found someone to help me repair it.
<iframe width="518" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/rdU1F54FEOU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
I started out online — I didn’t really do shows in physical space. The first show I did after graduating was the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, and my second show was MoMA. But it’s mostly because I already had my work online. Most people try to get opportunities through showing in physical space but for me everything was online. So my style of work developed to suit the online environment as well. The video is viral; it’s a music video, so easy to watch for three and a half minutes and get the concept. Sometimes it’s quite sensational so you tell friends about it. And the photograph — it’s an image suitable for blogs. There’s a central concept and story, but there’s all this media that comes out of it. Because I started online that’s why my work is like this.
But that’s a problem my gallery now has with my work: How to show it? If you show the video and the physical work all together it sometimes looks too explanatory. And sometimes it doesn’t really work in the physical space at all.
Is it sustainable to be an artist using platforms like YouTube for presenting work?
YouTube are saying that artists can make money from the advertising. But I get a lot of view counts and it only pays for my obento! To me it’s a bit like in Victorian times where the capitalists made the factories and made children work for free. YouTube made these sites for creatives to work for free!
It’s weird for me because I’m from that. I’m from it but I don’t think it’s a good thing! There has to be a way of making money in this kind of world but it’s difficult for creatives. Now I’m lucky and I have sponsors.
<img src="http://www.tokyoartbeat.com/tablog/entries.en/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/sputniko-hiromi-ozaki.jpeg" alt="" title="Sputniko! (Hiromi Ozaki)" width="257" height="257" class="imgcaption floatl" />A lot of Japanese pop art or art that uses “pop” or otaku subcultural tropes often lacks any clear sense of self-awareness. It often seems just to want to be taken at face value, a kind of self-indulgent mimesis of the infantile. Your work, though, clearly references “Japanese” motifs of the “kawaii” and cosplay, and yet is also very ironic and knowing. The playfulness is very Japanese but the critical elements are perhaps your British side coming out.
You’re really right. I am half British and half Japanese, so there’s this British black humour or irony, but then there’s this Japanese playfulness too. I like this Japanese extreme pop, this extreme happiness, but I often feel that it lacks in cynicism. Without cynicism it looks boring; it’s a bit disgusting sometimes! So I think my work is just a product of being in two countries.
I don’t think that my work is completely offbeat. But some people may say that my work is too poppy or commercial-looking. I think people in Japan are a bit more scared to push something that is new.
Aside from your obvious interest in technology, there are constant themes of gender and women too, most notably in the ‘Menstruation Machine’.
My mum is a maths professor at Sophia University so she’s very much a career woman. She was always advising me how to live as a girl who doesn’t just want to be a cute little housewife. And then I studied maths and computer science at Imperial and I noticed that there aren’t that many women studying science. Why aren’t women more involved in this? These guys watching anime are going to build the new society. So I started to write songs about technology and women, and how girls should look at technology more.
I started to get really interested in menstruation because in England or Europe the difference between male and female in terms of salary is really getting less, especially for young people. Japan still has problems but in England it’s kind of becoming equal. But if there’s something that’s not equal then there’s the biology side. Women get menstruation every month, there is pain and blood. And when they get pregnant, for nine months their body is kind of invaded a little bit. All these things people accept because we are human but maybe you could change these things through technology.
<iframe width="518" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/gnb-rdGbm6s" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
I was reading up about menstruation and I found that menstruation was something you could stop. Doctors knew how to stop menstruation in the Sixties when doctors developed the contraceptive pill. They knew there was a way of taking these pills every day and not getting menstruation. But they thought that women would be too worried to use the pill if there was no menstruation so on purpose they made women take the pill for three weeks, and then not for one week, so during this they get a fake period, withdrawal bleeding. And that’s fifty years ago and there’s space travel, internet, DNA engineering, all this new technology but women are still bleeding every single month. In 2007 in the U.S. they finally released this new pill called the Lybrel, and it’s the pill you take 365 days a year and you don’t get menstruation.
So I thought menstruation was a really interesting way to talk about gender; what we accept as women, what we accept as men. And with technology — would we change it if we could? — and even if technology progresses, society might not adopt it. Takashi is kind of the opposite. He uses technology to get menstruation rather than a woman using technology to get rid of it. It’s kind of a flipsided way of talking about the issue. I dress up as a guy who wants to dress up as a girl.
To learn more about Sputniko! and her work, visit her <a href="http://www.sputniko.com/">website</a>.

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