Last weekend, Japan cemented its growing prominence in the Asian and international art markets with the first edition of Tokyo Gendai. This new fair in the bustling Japanese capital attracted over 70 major galleries from every corner of the world. It comes on the heels of other new fairs across Asia in the last year, such as Frieze Seoul last September and ART SG in Singapore in January, as well as a notable change in Japanese tax laws. These loosening customs restrictions are set to make Tokyo and other Japanese cities far more attractive to multinational galleries looking to gain headway in Asia.
While Japan is now opening up to the international art market, its artists have long been some of the biggest names in global contemporary art. New generations of artists are sure to gain increased attention and exposure on an international scale through the growing art market in Tokyo and beyond. As we wait to see what the future holds for the land of the rising sun, Mustard is excited to sell work by many of the most important Japanese artists working today.
One of the most famous artists in Japan is 94-year old Yayoi Kusama, so iconic that her visage is instantly recognisable, even becoming the face of a recent collaboration with Louis Vuitton. Residing in Tokyo since the 1970s, Kusama was a key player in the New York counterculture and Pop art scene of the 1960s. She is especially known for her works featuring her signature polka dots, covering everything from paintings to pumpkins. Many of her works are also immersive, with Kusama’s popular Infinity Rooms selling out tickets no matter where in the world they are installed. Not only is Kusama one of the most well-known living artists, she is also the top selling female artist worldwide.
Takashi Murakami’s oeuvre is also unmistakable, his Superflat style achieving prominence globally through high profile museum exhibitions as well as collaborations in the luxury and music industries. Although originally specialising in the traditional painting style nihonga, Murakami came to prominence on the international stage in the late 1990s with his work incorporating anime and manga aesthetics. Murakami aims to revitalise the Japanese art world and art market through his own practice, in addition to supporting and promoting the next generation of Japanese artists through his company Kaikai Kiki.
Like Murakami, Yoshitomo Nara’s childhood in postwar Japan profoundly shaped his practice. Nara is known for his paintings of wide-eyed, big-headed young girls, often challenging the viewer with a rebellious gaze and a small knife in their hand or hidden behind their back. Despite their dark undertones, Nara’s images exhibit kawaii, or the cuteness aesthetic popular in Japanese culture. Nara has found widespread success, with work in major museum collections across the globe. In 2019, Sotheby’s Hong Kong sold his painting Knife Behind Back (2000) for nearly 200,000 HKD, or over 20,000 GBP, making Nara Japan’s highest selling artist to date.
- Rachel Kubrick