It took ages to find, but the G/P Gallery on the third floor of NADiff a.p.a.r.t in Ebisu was worth the stress. My shoddy print out from Google maps failed me, as did a taxi driver’s sat nav. I had heard of the NADiff art and design store before, but this was my first visit.
Hidden behind nondescript office buildings, a short walk from Ebisu station (JR and Tokyo Metro) the space inside is intimate, but new and bright. The current exhibition is ‘The Floating World,’ a selection of drawings by the legendary designer John Warwicker. John is famed for his works with the UK design collective tomato, of which he is a founding member.
John was the first foreign member of the Tokyo type directors club, and has worked for years with dance music veterans Underworld. Now based in Melbourne, he is also an adjunct professor of architecture and design at the University of Technology, Sydney and an adviser to the British government.
John Warwicker in action
On the opening night John Warwicker was in Tokyo, greeting people as they entered the gallery with a live drawing session in chalk. Each new person to enter provided inspiration for John. As more people entered the work progressed…until an entire black wall was covered in abstract sketches.
The gallery broadcast the event live via the internet, adding to the immediacy and activity of the event.
Limited edition signed books by tomato and John Warwicker, as well as t-shirts, are available to buy from the store now.
More Information
Closes April 25.
Drawing and print show plus live drawings (both approx. 3.5m x 2.4m)
G/P gallery
NADiff A/P/A/R/T 2F
1-18-4 Ebisu, Shibuya-ku
Website
Click here.
–SP
