I took a visiting young German painter to Ben's Cafe in Takadanobaba the other day. We met to have a beer and a chat -- and because Jorn was eager to show me a book of his new work, with an eye to me maybe helping arrange a show for him.
When ebullient owner Ben Watson looked over and remarked that Jorn could do a show in the cafe gallery. The painter smiled, and politely declined. It was a telling moment -- in the West, many if not most serious artists would be insulted by an invitation to hang their work in a restaurant, bar or cafe. But, as those of us working here know all too well, this isn't the West.
As I have mentioned repeatedly in this column, a nagging problem with the Japanese contemporary art scene is the dearth of quality exhibition space. At first, the numbers seem encouraging -- there are close to 1,000 art galleries in Tokyo alone. But most of these are kashi garo, rental spaces where artists pay a fee to put up their work. As there isn't a critical selection process, the caliber of these shows varies widely. Generally, the receptions attract only friends of the artist and a regular band of art-opening freeloaders there to gobble up the cheese and gulp down the wine before stumbling on to the next vernissage. Through a kashi garo exhibition's run, maybe a dozen or so browsers might drop in and sign the gallery guest book. Not a very good return on investment, considering that these rental spaces typically cost several hundred thousand yen per week