Through the opening party crowd ran Sam Taylor-Wood's adorable little daughter, Angelica, done up in a fairy costume with a papier-ma^che star floating above her head and a magic wand in her hand. It was a delightful moment that sent a ripple of good old warm-hearted smiles through the well-attended reception for Taylor-Wood's photography exhibition, "To Be or Not to Be," which is now at Ginza's Shiseido Gallery.
Taylor-Wood and I were chatting, when, suddenly, a look of concern crossed the 34-year-old English artist's face. She was watching something across the room -- and she kept on watching, growing more and more agitated. "What's wrong?" I finally asked. "It's my daughter," came the nervous reply. "Araki has got her cornered."
Indeed, Nobuyoshi Araki -- the lubricious lensman with a penchant for terribly young models, nudes in wire bondage and female degradation in general -- was hovering uncomfortably close to Taylor-Wood's daughter. We quickly walked over and I, half-jokingly, put myself between Araki and Angelica. "Your mother is one of the world's best contemporary artists," I whispered to the little girl. "You shouldn't be hanging around with riffraff like this."