LY in Tokyo

Artist LY guides us through the places and spaces in Tokyo that have galvanised her practice - including some locations that are instantly recognisable in her latest works. Photography by Niko Wu.

2 min read

Imperial Place East Gardens ,Chiyoda

Planet Park, Hachioji

Ly used to work exclusively in black and white, but after a while felt it limited her drawing and expressiveness. It was an encounter with Planet Park skatepark that pushed her perspective on this, and encouraged her to introduce grey into her palette for the first time.

Planet Park

On her first visit to this skatepark, LY was struck by the way the concrete atmosphere reflected how she was feeling. She could more accurately express her worldview by incorporating its hues in her work. Grey became synonymous with hope. Skateboarding and the skatepark are now significant motifs in her practice.

Confused LUV at Planet Park

LY's first work using grey

Shinjuku Gyoen and Imperial Gardens East

Urban escapism is a strong influence on her work. These landscapes in particular are among LY's favourite places to walk.

Shinjuku Gyoen, Shinjuku

Imperial Place East Gardens, Chiyoda

iki EXPRESSO

The restaurant scene in Tokyo appears in many of LY's paintings, and she picks out the contemporary iki EXPRESSO as her favourite place to eat out in the city.

iki EXPRESSO, Tokiwa

Confused LUV waiting outside

Tokyo National Museum and The National Museum of Western Art, Ueno

Ueno is home to cultural institutions such as zoos and museums. When LY was a child, she would visit the area with her family to see the art and paintings, and sketch her favourite animals at the zoo. The first impressions of her artistic career were made in this culturally vibrant district.

Tokyo National Museum

Tokyo National Museum

More works from LY to discover


More in this series

A wall with framed artworks, Exhibition shot WOAW Gallery & Avant Arte
article

WOAW Gallery: WoP

Staged at WOAW Gallery in Hong Kong, WoP includes original works on paper from a cohort of 24 artists — setting long-time Avant Arte collaborators alongside a host of established and emerging talents from around the world.

3 min read
Nigel Howlett at work in his studio
article

Nigel Howlett: The Face Before You Were Born

A solo show debut in London marked a tangible moment of inflection for Nigel Howlett and his faceless figures. In parallel, we collaborated to archive works from the show with a series of limited edition books and hand-finished prints.

3 min read
An image of the artist Mark Bradford.
article

Scorched Earth: A Tale of Two Cities

Mark Bradford’s abstract map works visualise the systems of race and class that have shaped American cities. To mark the release of a new silkscreen edition that translates "Scorched Earth", we unpack the parallel histories of Tulsa and LA excavated by the original.

5 min read
David Rudnick and Tim Marlow talking in a brightly lit room on charcoal grey sofas
47:48
interview

David Rudnick & Tim Marlow

Meeting for the first time, graphic designer David Rudnick and Design Museum Director Tim Marlow discuss false dichotomies, paradigm shifts, 'junk layer' culture and the multifarious challenges and opportunities faced by artists and designers in a Web3 age.


Insightful?

Insightful?

Subscribe to the Avant Arte newsletter for the art world in your inbox.


Discover more insights

Hank Willis Thomas running into history
essay

Hank Willis Thomas & Jesse Owens – Running into history

Conceptual artist Hank Willis Thomas explores success, power and oppression, specifically, how these ideas play out in the legacy of African American Olympian, Jesse Owens.

5 min read
Yayoi Kusama sitting in front of her painting of a pumpkin
01:00
video

Yayoi Kusama

How much do we really know about the dot-obsessed Japanese art icon?

Black and white photo of Leonora Carrington
00:56
video

Leonora Carrington

In Mexico, British Surrealist painter Leonora Carrington is a national treasure. But in her home country, she is much less well known. How did this young debutante from rural Lancashire become one of the most loved painters on the other side of the Atlantic?

3 min read
Photo of Larry Bell in front of his artwork
00:53
video

Larry Bell

Larry Bell, born in 1939 in Chicago, is celebrated for pioneering Minimalism and Light and Space art by manipulating glass and geometry to investigate light's influence on perception.