At the beginning of April we sent the latest volume of ART iT magazine off to the printer, so I'm having a bit more time again to sit back and see what’s happening in town. Let me list up a few events I've visited in the last twow weeks, from the top of my head:
Yamaguchi Akira’s live drawing of shunga paintings at Bar Traumaris; simultaneously held solo exhibitions by Takamine Tadasu, Isobe Ichiro and Una Szeemann at Takahashi Collection/Yamamoto Gendai/Kodama Gallery Tokyo; "The Elegance of Silence: Contemporary Art from East Asia" and "The World is a Stage: Stories Behind Pictures" at Mori Art Museum; Rosas' "Bitches Brew/Tacoma Narrows" performance at Sainokuni Saitama Geijutsu Theater; Kato Izumi’s solo show at SCAI The Bathhouse; the Matsui Fuyuko exhibition at Naruyama Gallery; Carsten Holler’s exhibition at Shugoarts… Obviously I've been to a lot of art exhibitions, and last weekend I even went on a 4-hour trip to Watarase valley in Gunma prefecture, for a sneak preview of Yokomizo Makoto’s excellent "Tomihiro Art Museum". All these events were really good.
Tokyo’s culture scene is exciting, so - perhaps because we've been experiencing this excitement from a distance recently - we made Tokyo the theme of ART iT’s newest issue, titled "180 Japanese creatives from all genres". On the cover is oriental beauty Yamaguchi Sayoko, a famous fashion model in the 1970s who is now doing performances with the likes of Ukawa Naohiro and Fujinoya Mai. She was styled for the shot by Tsumura Kosuke, who also launched a new series called "Fantasy Mode to Order" in ART iT, then photographed by Matsukage Hiroyuki. Appearing on the inside cover page opening this time’s special is Yasumoto Masako, one of the most regarded dancers in Japan at the moment, photographed by Suzuki Takashi of amana, a leading name especially in the advertising industry. We also made posters in two different versions, and chances are you'll see them when visiting book shops mainly in central Tokyo. Even before this issue hits the shops, Kinokuniya Shinjuku South Store has started an "ART iT Book Fair" on April 1st. If you feel like seeing the two pretty ladies in the posters quick, I recommend to visit Kinokuniya.
The simple idea behind this time’s special is explained briefly in the message that opens this issue of ART iT:
If there’s one thing that can make an art festival boring these days, it’s the attempt in the name of "art" to include anyone engaged in any form of creative expression. And if the director or curator happens to be one of those sad souls with a one-track art mind, the outcome is likely to be not so much boring as just plain tragic.
Why, rather than assembling creatives all in one place like this, do they not have connoisseurs of the different genres select the very essence of each, and disperse people over the fields in which they excel? Listening to a symposium on architecture in the morning, viewing an art exhibition in the afternoon, enjoying the theater at night, having a drink then carrying on to a club simply has to be far healthier and a darn sight more interesting than an exhausting day traipsing around some massive show.
So for this issue we had 10 professionals with experience in (or now in the process of) actually hosting or producing events, each pick 10 creatives from in their respective genres: creatives who personify the "real" Tokyo and Japan. This is not simply a catalog of personalities like those presented by so many magazines. No, rather it’s a print simulation of an actual festival, organized by the pros among pros who know the frontline inside out. Think of it as a project plan, if you like.
One day we'll do it for real, but for the moment, welcome to our virtual festival!
So we asked ten individuals - Azumaya Takashi (art), Laurent Ghnassia (cinema), Unita Momiichi (theatre), Maeda Keizo (dance), Hara Masaaki (music), Sato Naoki (graphics), Tsumura Kosuke (fashion), Alfred Birnbaum (literature), Frederic Boilet (manga) and Baba Masataka (architecture) - to select ten creators/units each. In addition, a number of influential gallerists from Tokyo picked 80 noteworthy young artists, which makes a total number of 180 names, completed by "seven culture spots with the jolt factor in and around Tokyo".
In April and May, I'm appearing in a couple of talk shows: with photographer/critic Minato Chihiro at Junku-do Bookstore, Ikebukuro, on 4/16, and with Hiro Sugiyama and Towa Tei, who are featured also in this issue of ART iT, at Kinokuniya Southern Theatre on 4/27. Besides collaborating frequently as a musician+VJ team, the latter two share also the hobby of collecting art, so besides hearing their comments we hope to be able to present also some pictures of their treasured collections. Then, a talk session with the aforementioned Yokomizo Makoto and Baba Masataka is scheduled for 5/14 at Aoyama Book Store main store. All these events will be introduced also on RT’s "Picks" pages, so please check these for detailed information, and, of course, please drop by.
As mentioned also in the message above, one day we'd love to do a real festival. With this in mind, we asked only professionals with experience in exhibition and event planning to select "participating" artists. The preliminary title would be "Tokyo Week", and the aim to offer during one week a vast number of occasions to experience the energetic cultural life in Tokyo. The upcoming talk shows will be preceding fights on the way to the realization.
Ozaki Tetsuya / Editor in chief / REALTOKYO