A hair salon in Harajuku seems an unlikely venue for an art museum, especially one dedicated to a shaven-headed, New York artist who works principally in ballpoint pen.
Nonetheless, Lennie Mace sees something apt about the location of his eponymous museum, housed in a salon named Antenna Dome in the hectic heart of Tokyo's youth culture. "I couldn't think of a better place to have my museum than a hair salon, because Japanese people spend far more time having their hair done than in museums," the boiler-suited artist explains.
Mace is still working on the museum and salon's lavishly decorated reception area, which features everything from a set of antique Art Deco lamps chosen by Mace to "nipple walls" (Mace's phrase for walls covered with CDs). In the background, salon staff go about their business, apparently unperturbed by an artist loose on the premises.