Expanding the reach of art through
multifaceted festivals what
cause the explosive evolution
of MEET YOUR ART

Avex's art venture, known as "MEET YOUR ART", creates intellectual property in the art domain and provides contact with art and artists to a wider audience. It began with a YouTube channel dedicated to contemporary art, which was launched in December 2020. Three years later, "MEET YOUR ART" has undergone an explosive evolution, with festivals combining art and culture held in both the spring and fall. In addition, the launch of a new service for corporations and the opening of an evening gallery space with a counter bar based on the concept of bringing people into contact with art in their everyday lives clearly shows the kinds of things that one can achieve in the art world as well Avex's level of commitment to that pursuit. What was the driving force behind these various initiatives that were set in motion all at once? Youri Kogo, co-chairperson of MEET YOUR ART project at Avex Creator Agency says, "It's all about passion and love for art."

Getting new fans
an art fest as only Avex can do

Keeping with the company's mid-term financial plan "avex vision 2027" that was announced in May 2022, Avex's new venture "MEET YOUR ART" was launched in the hopes allowing Avex to help co-create artwork and nurture those working in the art world. The following is a chronological account of its development, along with an explanation by Kogo.

As mentioned earlier, Avex's first foray into the art business was the December 2020 launch of "MEET YOUR ART," a YouTube channel dedicated to contemporary art. Prior to this, the Japanese art market had been in a state of decline following the bursting of the bubble economy in the late 1980s, wherein art could not be said to have become an integral part of daily life for a substantial period of time. Furthermore, the art market had become so entrenched in its lofty image that it had lost the interest of the general public.

"To tap into that market, we needed to communicate the appeal of art and expand our new fan base. YouTube was our first move toward achieving that goal."

The series includes several interviews with artists by Mirai Moriyama, who has been the MC for the past three years since the show started; art lectures for those who are new to contemporary art; "FIRST PIECE" where celebrities talk about the first piece of art they purchased and a series of visits to artists' studios featuring Ryota Katayose of GENERATIONS that started last summer. Kogo has been involved in creating the concept for such programs.

"The most important thing for Avex in working with art was to maintain a close proximity to the art world while at the same time not getting too close to their entertainment roots. At the time, there were few media outlets that introduced and critiqued contemporary art in an easy-to-understand manner, so we were confident that if we continued to carefully produce different shows, viewers would take to them, even if it took some time."

The YouTube program "MEET YOUR ART," which is the cornerstone of Avex's art venture, has become a channel with over 60,000 registered users as of the end of January 2024. The program has managed to penetrate the art industry, and there is no end to the number of artists and critics who wish to appear on the channel.

On the other hand, Kogo apparently had other ideas before starting these shows, such as the idea for the "MEET YOUR ART FESTIVAL 2022 ʻNew Soilʼ," which was held for the first time at Yebisu Garden Place in May 2022. The festival, which championed one of the largest art and culture festivals in Japan and connected that art with music, food, fashion, and lifestyle, was a truly multifaceted project with a Avex's special touches.

"We were able to attract 30,000 people over the three days. A festival with an art exhibition, art fair, music and other cultural content was a challenging experiment not only for us, but also for the people involved and the participating artists, and we were happy that everyone who attended left with smiles on their faces. Of course we were nervous, but when the doors opened, we found the festival to be a great success, and the fact that we were able to do what we wanted to do from the very first event gave us confidence and a decent amount of clout."

Supporting artists
Building new art fairs and festivals

Then, about 10 months after the first Art Fest in March 2023, Kogo and his team took on the challenge of breaking free from their existing framework with "RE : FACTORY," an art fair held at the Terada Warehouse in Tennozu, Tokyo, based on the concept of collaboration between art and music.

"For 'RE : FACTORY,' we asked Enrico Isamu Oyama to be the primary artist as well as artistic director. It's rare for an artist himself to serve as the director of an exhibition or fair. In addition, while most art fairs are mainly gallery exhibitions—where galleries display and sell works by selected artists—many of the visitors to our events are those encountering art for the first time, so we thought it would be easier for them to understand if the works were displayed by each artist themselves, like at a music festival. So we decided to create an area for each of the 28 artists to exhibit and sell their work."

Then, in October of the same year, Avex held its second art festival: "MEET YOUR ART FESTIVAL 2023 'Time to Change'". The festival was moved to the Tennozu Canal area in Tokyo and expanded in scale to include an exhibition and two fairs centered on art, as well as live music performances and a market, drawing 40,000 visitors over four days.

Around the same time, two initiatives different from the festival were announced. One of them is "CONTEMPORARY," a regular delivery service of contemporary art for corporations, in which works by contemporary artists selected by MEET YOUR ART are converted into A0-size high-resolution prints in cooperation with Dai Nippon Printing Co. The works will be distributed three times a year with half of the money will be returned to the participating artists and used to support their activities.

"The artist's contract with a single company would only bring in a small amount of yen, but with 100 companies that would change to several million yen, so it is a dream come true, isn't it? The only way for an artist to survive is to work hard to complete a single work of art and sell it. With only the old ways, many artists have difficulty sustaining their artistic activities. On the other hand, many companies want to introduce art, but with the original work itself, it's difficult for the companies to choose what to purchase and to maintain it. So we decided to make reproductions of the artwork and offer them to companies and welfare facilities that want artwork in their offices starting from April 2024."

The other venture is "WALL_alternative," a nighttime art space that opened in November in Nishiazabu, Tokyo. This is another space that aims for cultural crossover, with a counter bar attached to an art gallery that exhibits and sells contemporary art works.

"We wanted to create a place where adults can enjoy contemporary art among the everyday whims of life, apart from festivals and fairs that generate a great deal of excitement. We're open from 6:00 pm to midnight, hours when most art museums and galleries aren't open. We also serve alcoholic beverages, so we hope people will feel free to drop by."

This is the history of "MEET YOUR ART" up through 2023. Kogo, who happily recounts the whole story, has her own story to tell also. Although she humbly claims that she's "a little bit quirky," it is a story that makes perfect sense for someone who has been entrusted with the responsibility for an art project of this caliber.

Entertainment models applied to art:
a new approach as only Avex could make

Kogo, who says he has roots in Japan and Taiwan, was born into a musical family. His grandparents had a classical background and had artwork in their home. His parents were also acquaintances with many artists. Kogo herself studied singing until high school, and he was able to know firsthand the joys and pains of artists and felt a great deal of respect for their struggles. On the other hand, she also had a strong inclination toward problem solving—she felt if she came across a problem, she had to do something about it—which is what landed her where she is today.

"When I was a student, I noticed how many kids from Taiwan were coming to Japan to study culture and the arts, and this led me to start and run a Taiwan-Japan cultural event organization. As I continued with the organization, I realized that whenever we talked about artists' futures, no one ever seemed to know how they could make a living as artists. I wanted to create a system to support them but couldn't figure out how to go about it, and that's when I met an HR person from Avex. They told me that there were business approaches to the problem that I could use to help solve this dilemma, which is what made me want to join the company and take their entrance exam."

Koga joined the company in 2016 as a new graduate. and has since worked in Avex's Asian music division and was involved in the launch of Avex China. Kogo has enjoyed her work at Avex, saying that when she used to struggle with language barriers, she would find solace in art and music, mediums that could move her without the use of words. One day, however, three years after joining the company, she moved to the Terada Warehouse to get back to what she felt she should be doing. Although this is a bit of a digression, the events that followed "RE : FACTORY" came to be held mainly at Terada Warehouse because of the connections that Kogo had made.

Terada Warehouse has been making efforts to turn Tennozu into an art district by creating various cultural facilities. After I joined Terada Warehouse, I worked in exhibition planning and PR at the Architectural Warehouse Museum, a facility specializing in architecture, and then I was involved in the launch of WHAT MUSEUM, a contemporary art collector's museum, where I learned many things related to the act of creation. Later, while I was working in promoting museums, I was approached by Avex. They asked me to help them with the art business they'd started up. That's why I came back to the company. I was able to take a fresh look at Avex because I had been out of the company for a while, and I realized that Avex is good at creating soft culture that maximizes human talents. I thought that if we could combine these strengths with Terada Warehouse's role as a kind of device for making Tennozu into an art district, we would be able to hold a large-scale mixed-culture festival that would raise the profile of the area in a way that had never been done before."

Of course, Kogo alone is not the driving force behind "MEET YOUR ART." However, it is undoubtedly because of the addition of someone like Kogo to the project who has her kind of background and awareness that this project, which started in the middle of the pandemic, has taken off in a big way.

"I feel like MEET YOUR ART has been received really well up until now. I believe that Avex is the only company developing art projects on this scale and at this speed. However, the development of the art market has just begun, so we need to increase the intensity of our various projects, especially festivals."

"Now that more and more celebrities are getting into art, and that there are those among them who are interested in contemporary art, we would like to collaborate in various ways with people who have passion and respect for the art industry. For example, Ryota Katayose of GENERATIONS came to MEET YOUR ART FESTIVAL 2022 privately, which led to our working together on the YouTube show. Also, Rinrin, formerly of BiSH, decided to become a contemporary artist when BiSH broke up and changed her name to MISATO ANDO. She is serious about becoming a recognized presence in the art world and not just having a fanbase. She even unveiled her first work at ART FAIR "CROSSOVER" at last year's MEET YOUR ART FESTIVAL. BiSH had their first hit at the time I first started with Avex, so being here to see her debut as a fine artist is really special for me."

The two of them seem to share the same level of fervor for art. "MEET YOUR ART" can be described as a project that continues to express the sense of creativity that comes from the place where art meets Avex. The fact that this is gaining public notoriety is all thanks to Avex. As long as they can maintain the passion that Kogo mentioned, Japan should be able to further deepen its connection to art in the coming future.