A message to new artists

When I look at artwork I prioritize the two points of energy and excess. I don’t think that it’s enough for an artist to create art with the intention of selling it and then rent out a gallery and put on a solo exhibition. If an artist has something they want to express, I want them to put their all into that.

Galleries receive a lot of portfolios from artists and a lot of promotional materials from overseas via the internet, but in particular I always make sure to look at the direct mail and postcards we receive. For example, I received a direct mail postcard from Manabu Ikeda in 2004. I thought it was interesting, and so I actually went to the exhibition and over three days convinced him and the gallery that he should be represented by Mizuma Gallery. It was all the result of just one postcard.

(c) IKEDA Manabu

The resolve needed to run a gallery

Similarly to artists, a gallerist who just wants to make money should quit. Galleries in Japan archive the materials of their artists and responsibly promote them. Because galleries play this sort of role, opening a gallery may mean becoming entirely responsible for the life of an artist. If you meet an artist about whom you think, ‘I want to spend my life working for this artist’s talent,’ then you may open a gallery. Because artists will be your assets.

I have many things I want to do, but I strongly want to see Makoto Aida’s work in a solo exhibition in a museum. However, Mr. Aida himself has said, “Let’s put off on requesting museums to put on a show until they ask us to do an exhibition.” When I heard this I thought, “I wonder if I will not see a Makoto Aida museum show as long as I live.”

(c) AIDA Makoto

Courtesy Mizuma Art Gallery