Marina Kappos working in her studio at the Tokyo Wonder Site artist-in-residency program

Photos/images courtesy of Marina Kappos

Although there is little funding for the arts in Japan at the federal level, the TMG has stepped forward with its own initiative called Tokyo Wonder Site (TWS). Backed by Governor Ishihara and created under the umbrella of the Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture (the body that also oversees city-run museums), the first Tokyo Wonder Site gallery space in Hongo opened on Christmas Day 2001. In July 2005, TWS unveiled a gallery space in Shibuya, and in November last year it established a Creator-in-Residence facility in Aoyama. Since its inception, the program has invited about 1,200 visual artists, musicians and dancers to perform, give talks and show their work in exhibitions. It is an ambitious yet highly successful, multilayered initiative that supports a full range of visual and performing artists.

Spearheading TWS is director Yusaku Imamura. Fluent in English and trained as an architect, he has convinced Ishihara to reform the city’s culture policy. “I got the idea for TWS from the AA School of Architecture in London,” says Imamura. “In the middle of London, the school has a gallery space, an archive, organized lectures and a big pub in the center. It all works really well, and there’s lots of sharing among the architects. With Tokyo Wonder Site, we are hoping for the same kind of interchange among artists.”

Imamura’s first attempt was a space for emerging artists called Tokyo Wonder Wall, located at City Hall in Shinjuku. The Tokyo Wonder Site Hongo gallery followed, still focusing on emerging artists. Widening its perspective, the Creator-in-Residence program invites artists from overseas; the current participant, painter Marina Kappos from Los Angeles, came over in May and will stay through next month. The 12 paintings she created are now showing at the TWS Shibuya gallery until November 25.

“When I came to Tokyo in 2005 with my LA dealer and met with Imamura-san, I remember walking out of the Aoyama space and thinking I really, really wanted to come to Japan for the Creator-in-Residence program. I ended up postponing a show I had scheduled in New York,” Kappos says. TWS offers free studio space and an apartment within their Aoyama facility, but other than that, the artists are expected to support themselves.

Kappos is known for her self-portraits, which also include images of places she has lived. As part of the TWS residence program, she was asked to do paintings about her life and experiences in Tokyo. “It’s really hard to come to a city and not turn it into a cliché. So I didn’t want to be too specific, and have combined images between abstract and real.” Kappos found the city has greatly influenced her work on conscious and subconscious levels. “Without realizing it at first, I ended up using a lot of Kabuki colors and grays. A visit to Tsukiji really influenced me, so that’s why I’ve painted fish and images of the sea. A trip to Nikko and the shrine there motivated me to use gold, which I’ve never done before. The large eyes are me observing, like a wide-eyed spectator.”

Marina Kappos, 115, 2007, acrylic on canvas

Kappos found the Japanese sense of duality like tatemae (stated reason) and honne (real intention) to be both challenging and fascinating, as seen in her self-portrait titled 115. “Japanese culture is really different for me because there’s a lot of masking going on. You really don’t know what’s behind the mask. I am interested in that duality, so this is the basis for the split self-portrait I did. Half of me looks like an extreme geisha, while the other half looks like a manga girl. It’s me but not me. Both are extreme masks. It’s a way that they sexualize women here.”

One of Kappos’ canvases is her name painted in Japanese. “I had the kanji of my name chosen by a Shinto priest and wanted to learn how to write it, so I practiced every day,” she says. “Before this, I simply didn’t see the characters. Writing my name in kanji has opened a window for me.”

The canvases are displayed at the gallery like a city landscape. “In LA, I’m in my car a lot. Here I am a pedestrian. The space here is much more compressed. I’ve arranged the canvases to show the idea of a pedestrian walking—an environment that you feel you can walk into.”

Kappos feels she’s gained much from her experience at TWS. “A lot of times I get to this point in my work and worry that I could have accomplished more. But this time I am content that I was able to do what I wanted. I feel like my brain has exploded since I’ve been here. I have learned so much.”

Kappos’ work will also be included in a group show at the Hachioji Yume Art Museum in Hachioji, through Nov 25. See exhibition listings (other areas) for details. Tokyo Wonder Site: www.tokyo-ws.org