Japan's Foray Into The Contemporary Art World
Friday, July 18, 2008SUSIE GHARIB: Auction house Christie's International said today it logged $3.5 billion in art sales during the first six months of the year, that's up 10 percent from last year's pace. Strong sales in Asia added to those results: business there is up 63 percent according to Christie's. For years, Japan, one of the world's richest countries has been conspicuously absent from the art market. But as Lucy Craft reports, there are signs the deep freeze in Japanese contemporary art may now be thawing.
LUCY CRAFT, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: Compared to the stratospheric run up in art bids elsewhere, running into the tens of millions of dollars, the hammer prices are still earthbound at art auctions in Japan. Yet experts say that the infrastructure is slowly settling into place for a robust local market. As recently as about 20 years ago, art auctions didn't even exist here. Art was a closed universe, where prices were set by a limited Number of sellers offering works to a handful of buyers. So while Japan is renowned for the quality of its works, it's equally infamous for undervaluing them. A giant in the global economy, Japan is a midget when it comes to art prices. Contemporary art prices in Japan pales in comparison to those of New York and London and even compared to Hong Kong. Art dealers say that's about to change. Gallery owner Julia Barnes say the tsunami of interest in art that has hyper-inflated prices elsewhere in Asia, can only perk up the numbers here, too, as international buyers, suffering sticker in China and South Korea head to Japan for bargains.
JULIA BARNES, OWNER, NAKAOCHIAI GALLERY: Ten years ago, the Chinese contemporary art scene was virtually unknown, and now it's just skyrocketing. And people will start looking for cheaper works, and it just So happens that here in Japan we Have quality works for a tenth Of the price.
YOICHIRO KURATA, PRESIDENT, SHINWA ART AUCTION: This is some kind of symbol in Japan.
CRAFT: Yoichiro Kurata, who runs auction house Shinwa Art auction, is a former fund manager. He is also convinced Japan will go the way of its neighbors.
KURATA: If you look at the Korean Market three years ago, it's just like the Japanese market now. But once it happens, the boom starts, the market is just boosted really quickly, and in three years, market size becomes five times.
CRAFT: One sign of the blossoming of the contemporary art market: even the youngest and most obscure talent can secure precious exhibit space, Customers and publicity at a small but growing number of art fairs. This freeform festival, called Design Festa, was founded 14 years ago by a fashion stylist Named Kunie Usuki.
TRANSLATION OF: KUNIE USUKI, FOUNDER, DESIGN FESTA: Yes, things have changed a lot in Japan. Fourteen years ago, art was seen as a pursuit only for an elite. But we allow anyone to exhibit here, so the art scene is really bustling. Nowadays, even a teenager can become famous.
CRAFT: Art lovers also take heart in the growing number of art galleries catering to contemporary artists. Tokyo has around 50, a fraction of the number in Beijing, but still dozens more than existed as recently as a few years ago. This art space, a former Printing plant located in Tokyo's swank Kagurazaka district, was opened by one of Japan's leading contemporary art Collectors, Ryutaro Takahashi.
TRANSLATION OF: RYUTARO TAKAHASHI, COLLECTOR: In a word, the contemporary art scene is poised for takeoff. Lots of young artists are emerging. Even middle-aged artists, who couldn't find exhibit space in the past, now are fetching decent prices for their work from local buyers as well as collectors from abroad. So however you slice it, the market is starting to flourish.
CRAFT: Takahashi and other experts say Japan has no shortage of art talent. What's missing is the marketing muscle to develop a deep bench of Japanese Andy Warhols and sell them to an international art audience. Lucy Craft, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, Tokyo.
