Hatos

Hato means pigeon in Japanese. Hatos is a collective of artists based in Tokyo who do everything from live painting and music to tee shirt design. I met Rei and So from Hatos last night at an event they did in Fukuoka. Rei did live painting while So played rollicking, droning dub. Live painting is really common at club events here. The finished product hangs, glowing, for people to look at while dancing. I asked So what they were going to do with the art from last night, a 12-foot long canvas with white abstract lines against black. He said I could buy it for 3 million dollars.

Here are a couple of works by the Hatos artists. Their client list is a mile long; the recent tour is sponsored by NorthFace. The close relationship between art and fashion, even mainstream brands like NorthFace, somewhat justifies the exorbitant price of clothes here.

Hatos.org