Open Space (and Nature)
Space + Nature opened this past Saturday at Gallery Kopis in Tokyo with a very nice turnout and some cool artwork from 6 young, upcoming Tokyo artists... including myself. The important news:
I will be at the Gallery on Thursday 9/4 and Saturday 9/6.
If you're in the area and would like to stop by for a chat, it's best to come in the afternoon. I should be there around 12pm Thursday and 1pm Saturday. I hope some you can make it to the show! Saturday the 6th is the last day.
You can see the photos from the show up on my Flickr account now. My wonderful wife was handling the camera, which is why they are mostly pictures of me. I'm afraid she's quite taken with me. I did manage to get some pictures of the gallery and the artwork though. I've spared everyone the pictures from later in the evening, when the combination of lack of sleep, caffeine, beer, sake, and wine did their dastardly work. You can thank me at your leisure.
I've learned a few important things from this show. First, it's great to work locally. The final piece for the show was finished at 6am the day of the show. I'm very happy with the way it came out. My fingers, on the other hand, would have preferred I had gotten more sleep. They are still healing.
Even more importantly, I recently discovered a great framer right nearby my house. He's a tiny old dude in a small, easy-to-miss shop in Denenchofu with a surprisingly gorgeous selection of frames. He seriously reminds me of Yoda. But maybe that's because he lectures me every time I go into the shop. I apparently have much to learn about making art.
Check out the traditional Japanese frame around "Traveling Cloak". It's a beautiful, rich red and brown wood, with some gold in the corners around the floral designs. Very simple and breathtaking. It's a work of art itself.
The distressed wood frames around the postcard-sized pieces are great too. I found those at a wood working exposition a few months ago when searching through flea markets for traditional frames. A young woman (whose name I can't remember right now) makes them from old chairs on a farm in Chiba, just east of Tokyo. It's amazing the sorts of things I stumble on in this city.