Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on February 2010

Photos by Benjamin Parks

Back in the bad old days of a few years ago, Tokyo’s artistically inclined faced an uphill struggle to become established. After daubing their first masterpieces, they could either go to a kashi-garo (rental gallery) and splash out several hundred thousand yen a week to watch well-heeled Ginza-ites saunter insouciantly by, or they could appeal to the mercy of kikaku-garo (curator-run galleries).

The catch with the second option was that the curators were out to make a fast buck too by charging a hefty commission—and in order to get it, they tended to only touch art that pushed all the right trend buttons. If the wannabe artists weren’t part of the in-crowd, they were part of the don’t-call-us-we’ll-call-you reject crowd.

This ruthless filter system made sure that almost all artists who hadn’t followed the prescribed path of graduating from the right art university and carefully networking through Japan’s various artistic associations and circles were effectively barred from the metaphorical slopes of Mount Parnassus. Automatically, this pall of artistic death embraced practically all foreigners aiming to make a name over here—a pity, because Japan’s unique culture has often served as a potent stimulus for expat artists.

But since those dark days, Tokyo’s art scene has been going through radical changes at the grassroots level. In recent years, the gallery system has seen a sharp decline, with its stranglehold broken by some exciting new alternatives that make exhibiting in Tokyo—even for a foreigner—a lot easier and more enjoyable than it once was. Foremost among these are the vibrant restaurant spaces that welcome up-and-coming artists, providing a welcome alternative to the gallery system—one that benefits artists, restaurateurs and art-loving Tokyo diners alike.

Like many foreign artists, 29-year-old Aeravi Mahoney, a native of Montana, was drawn to Japan by its distinctive artistic style.

“In college, I was introduced to Japanese traditional art in my art classes, and my friends introduced me to Japan’s modern export, anime,” she tells Metropolis. “First I watched Princess Mononoke and then Akira. The thing that caught me about these was the power of their visual grace. The clincher was Spirited Away, which was so full of richly mysterious characters and ideas that I felt like I really wanted to be able to understand the culture which had created its artists.”

When Mahoney touched down in Japan in 2007, rather than the obstacles of the past, she found chances and opportunities that earlier generations could only dream about. There were venues willing to show her art for free and a range of artistic activities that welcomed newcomers. One of the first avenues that opened to her was live painting at music events and nightclubs.

“Music is abstract and surreal in the same way that dreams are—and just as powerful,” she explains. “So I celebrate it by letting it speak to me and come through in rhythm and color on a flat surface. I paint what I feel instead of what I see. I began to get the urge to go out and celebrate it by dancing as well as painting.”

Through a DJ friend, she started doing live painting in sync with music sets at Studio Bitters nightclub in Yokohama, often with fluorescent paints and black lighting.

“After a first trial run, I was asked to paint there again,” she says. “And then I painted at Ageha four times with some amazing musicians. Painting live in front of hundreds of people solidified my internal cohesion of sound and imagery. There’s no time for second-guessing when you have four hours to satisfactorily complete a large painting. It has helped me trust my instincts.”

While live painting is an intense experience, it is transitory. Aspiring artists also need a venue to display their art. That’s where Tokyo’s art-minded restaurants and bars come in, offering a welcome niche for the creatively inclined.

Ground zero for artistic creativity in Tokyo’s foreign community is undoubtedly The Pink Cow, a restaurant and bar in Shibuya, which will display Mahoney’s art in July. The venue not only allows its walls to be used as free gallery space, but also runs numerous live events, including Dr Sketchy’s Anti-Art School, a monthly drawing class featuring burlesque dancers, strippers and other unusual models.

The driving force behind the venue is founder and chief executive Traci Consoli, originally from California.
“I grew up in a family that came from an Italian background and was very community oriented,” she says. “For me, art is very much a part of humanity and who we are. What is it that keeps us human? It’s this creativity and this community and this love of new ideas and bringing people together.”

When Consoli arrived in Tokyo in the early ’90s, there was nowhere for the foreign community to get together in a relaxed, Bohemian environment. So she decided to do it herself, opening The Pink Cow in its original Harajuku location in 2000 as a multipurpose culture and culinary venue.

“For a long time, I just waited for someone else to do it because I just thought, ‘God, this is so important. How could somebody not do it?’” she recalls. “Finally, I got tired. ‘I’m either going to leave Japan because I’m so frustrated with not having that—great people with great ideas—around me, or I’m going to have to make a place where people can do that.’ So I kind of set aside my own work to make this place and open it to all artists.”

Artists who display at The Pink Cow are given a full month for their exhibition.

“We generally do it from the first of the month to the last day of the month,” she explains. “It’s easier for us to deal with. I remember when I used to do galleries, it was like a six-day show, so everybody was busy and the media couldn’t get you. It just wasn’t long enough. Because we don’t make any money from the art—we make our money from running our business—we can allow the artist to use it for a proper amount of time.”

Consoli describes her venue as “an art place that happens to be a really good restaurant.” But while The Pink Cow is undoubtedly a beacon of hope for artists in Tokyo, especially those in the foreign community, a more important trend is the growing number of restaurants across the city that “happen to do art,” something that is offering artists a vast new area to exploit.

One of the original trailblazers in this respect was TY Harbor Brewery and Restaurant, which opened in Shinagawa in 1997. Housed in a renovated warehouse with an expansive patio on the waterfront, the location has no shortage of wall space. By turning it over to up-and-coming artists, the restaurant gains many benefits. Not only does it save money on interior decoration, but it is able to effortlessly update its look.

“We change the exhibition on a regular basis, so the feeling you get will be different depending on the art in the restaurant,” explains spokeswoman Ninako Hattori. “Another advantage is that the artists will bring new customers who are originally their friends or families and didn’t know our place before. They often become our regular customers after the exhibition is over.”

Because of the important advantages that a collaboration between restaurant and artists can bring, TY Harbor has developed a clear artistic strategy with a well-defined art program. It selects contemporary art that reflects “the many layers of Tokyo, as it is now and will be in the near future” and aims to “offer a taste of Tokyo’s most cutting-edge art and culture.”

For many smaller restaurants, however, the approach is more ad hoc. L’Espadon, a high-class French eatery in Kamiyacho, recently started displaying the art of painter Francoise Lions, but only after she had approached the owner-chef Daniel Martin with a fully developed proposal.

“I knew this place before and its walls were empty,” Lions recalls. “When I saw the place, I was inspired. Artists have to understand that the people running restaurants, bars and clubs are very busy, so you really have to come up with the full package. In that respect, exhibiting in restaurants is different from a gallery, which will do all the work, like hanging and framing, information, and so on. In this case, you have to come with everything ready.”

Following Lions’ initiative, the painter and chef have now developed a strong symbiotic relationship, with Lions’ paintings complementing Martin’s haute-cuisine artistry.

“We try to work together to mix our passion for art, cooking and hospitality,” Martin says as he surveys the greatly enhanced look of the basement restaurant.

For Lions, the big advantage of the restaurant setting is that it shows her art in a more natural and homelike setting, and also allows people time to get used to the art before they decide to buy.

While the likes of Lions and Consoli, and restaurants such as TY Harbor, have worked hard to change the grassroots art environment in Tokyo, younger artists like Mahoney have reaped the benefit. In addition to her live painting events and forthcoming exhibition at the Pink Cow, her art is already on display at a restaurant that offers a view to rival anything found on the walls.

Set on the 47th floor of the Caretta Shiodome building in Shimbashi, Italian restaurant Bice is the kind of location that doesn’t really need art to enhance its atmosphere. Despite this advantage, the restaurant’s director, Angelo Visigalli, still feels that art is vital.

“Art has always been a passion of mine, so when we were planning the restaurant layout, I made sure that it would be equipped for exhibitions,” he says. “We did our first exhibition a week after the opening and we usually do a different exhibition every two or three months. This ensures a different atmosphere according to each artist’s work.”

With the eye of a skilled curator, Visigalli has brought a mixture of established artists, like top Italian painters Mario Arlati and Massimo Catalani, as well as fresh newcomers like Mahoney.

“With Aeravi, I liked the graphics of her design,” he enthuses. “I found her art very metaphysical, but also very expressive at the same time.”

The current exhibition has about 40 of Mahoney’s works, of various sizes, most of which are attached to the walls with glass hooks made by her husband Lucas, who is a glass jewelry artist.

Displaying art in restaurants offers many benefits both to artists and restaurateurs, but perhaps the greatest one is that this new system has helped remove much of the financial burden from the shoulders of aspiring artists—something that is guaranteed to help free their creativity for the future.