If you walked into Yufuku, Tokyo's most ambitious design/craft gallery, you left different. Because at Yufuku, you could see the most progressive and exceptional Japanese art, where the intersection of the 'contemporary,' the 'crafted,' and the 'Japanese' is demonstrated in the most intriguing and poetic ways. Lacquer, bamboo, ceramics, metal art, glass, could not have been utilized more differently than their traditional application, by those talented artists represented at the Gallery. Their objects lead you to think differently about Japanese aesthetics.
Now that the gallery celebrates it renaming, 'A Lighthouse called Kanata' by moving to new premises at Nishi-Azabu district in Tokyo, its message will be further cemented. Kanata means 'Beyond' or 'Far Away', a quintessentially Japanese ideal imbued by the two characters that comprise it, literally meaning 'Towards' and 'You.' Why lighthouse? I asked the gallery's brilliant owner Wahei Aoyama. "The night is dark and full of shadows, and such is why our artists need this gallery more than ever. We will continue to shine a light at the vast ocean before us, hoping to serve as a beacon of hope for today’s artists and the artists of tomorrow." A fascinating juxtaposition of materials and poetry, of dream and reality.
Founded 27 years ago by Aoyama's father, the gallery initially specialized in Japanese porcelain. Young Wahei began his independent journey into the world of art and aesthetics upon graduating from Oxford. When merging with his father in 2011, he took on the mission of carrying the unique vision born in 21st-century Japan to the West. He transformed the gallery into an international hub for representing the most extraordinary Japanese artists employing crafts. The mission to 'promote and support artists that were unique, who created works that could not be made 100 years ago, nor 100 years from now, which would stand the tests of time, that would inspire generations into the future, yet could be embraced from persons from all creeds and cultures, in any day and age of humanity" is enlightening.
Congratulations to the newly-born A Lighthouse called Kanata.
Above: Sachi Fujikake, VESTIGE 16, 2015.
Now that the gallery celebrates it renaming, 'A Lighthouse called Kanata' by moving to new premises at Nishi-Azabu district in Tokyo, its message will be further cemented. Kanata means 'Beyond' or 'Far Away', a quintessentially Japanese ideal imbued by the two characters that comprise it, literally meaning 'Towards' and 'You.' Why lighthouse? I asked the gallery's brilliant owner Wahei Aoyama. "The night is dark and full of shadows, and such is why our artists need this gallery more than ever. We will continue to shine a light at the vast ocean before us, hoping to serve as a beacon of hope for today’s artists and the artists of tomorrow." A fascinating juxtaposition of materials and poetry, of dream and reality.
Founded 27 years ago by Aoyama's father, the gallery initially specialized in Japanese porcelain. Young Wahei began his independent journey into the world of art and aesthetics upon graduating from Oxford. When merging with his father in 2011, he took on the mission of carrying the unique vision born in 21st-century Japan to the West. He transformed the gallery into an international hub for representing the most extraordinary Japanese artists employing crafts. The mission to 'promote and support artists that were unique, who created works that could not be made 100 years ago, nor 100 years from now, which would stand the tests of time, that would inspire generations into the future, yet could be embraced from persons from all creeds and cultures, in any day and age of humanity" is enlightening.
Congratulations to the newly-born A Lighthouse called Kanata.
Above: Sachi Fujikake, VESTIGE 16, 2015.
Niyoko Ikuta, Ku-107, 2017.
Osamu Yokoyama, Ether, 2019.
Ken Mihara, Kigen (Genesis), 2010.
Naoki Takeyama, Group of Vases in Enameled Metal, 2009.
Kosuke Katol, Sculpture in Damascus Steel.
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