イントロダクション
Introduction
Wonderwall’s Masamichi Katayama is one of the hottest interior designers on the global scene. His strength lies in the ability to conceptualize distinctive environments that enhances the vision and branding clients aspire, creating environment that would touch the subconscious of the consumer and occupant. His many projects include UNIQLO’s global flagship stores (New York, Paris, London, Ginza and other locations), INTERSECT BY LEXUS (Aoyama, Dubai and soon NYC), UNITED ARROWS (Roppongi), PASS THE BATON (Marunouchi, Omotesando, Kyoto Gion) and PIERRE HERMÉ PARIS Aoyama. Katayama also has a reputation as a collector. A visit to his studio, Wonderwall, reveals an office crammed with his massive collection of books and CDs, together with antiques that he has picked up on his travels, furniture by designers such as Jean Prouvé and Charlotte Perriand and contemporary art by international artists such as Ryan Gander, Simon Fujiwara and Takashi Murakami. Coinciding with the 25th year of Masamichi Katayama’s design career, this exhibition presents his collection. Katayama himself considers how the collection can best be displayed in the context of an Art Museum to explore where his interests lie and the essence of creation that the collection embodies.
The Encyclopedia of Masamichi Katayama “Life is hard... Let's go shopping.”
It’s eclectic. There’s no principle behind it.
The stuff that I encounter messes me around, makes me cringe, impacts my work and my life and makes me envious. Over the years I’ve thrown around a lot of money in order to somehow overcome that sense of inferiority.
When I was a boy, punk rock hit me hard, leaving me with just one overarching value—I like stuff that puts in the boot into conventions and preconceptions. That’s the brutal truth behind what I’ve collected. I didn’t care the slightest about categories.
Mahatma Gandhi said, “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”
That saying contains a deep truth. Putting the boot in is easy.
It’s working out what to do afterwards that’s difficult.
—Masamichi Katayama’s encyclopedia is still as tangled as ever.
“Life is hard... Let’s go shopping”
Masamichi Katayama
