With shows four times a year, Diesel Art Gallery in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward is one of the best free art venues in Tokyo and is well worth checking out. Located in the basement of the clothes brand shop, it puts on consistently good shows that steer clear of the pretentiousness of more "artsy" venues, while remaining edgy in the way that shop-supported art spaces are seldom comfortable with.
Its latest show is a case in point. "Organic Contrast: Artworks of Usugrow" presents the illustrations of Usugrow, a Japanese artist who did not emerge from the usual art-university route, but instead made his name in the underground music scene in the 1990s with artwork related to music, skate culture and apparel design.
The punk attitude implicit in his roots is still evident in his recent work with its iconography of skulls and flowers, but another important influence, according to the gallery's curator, is Islamic culture. In addition to influencing a puritan palette of black and white, this has also inspired the original calligraphy that Usugrow has developed, which he uses to enhance and decorate his works.