Yuki Terase

Plus: How do you consider these ‘long-term’ aspects?

YT: There are various factors. It’s a bit like musicians and actors—not everyone makes it to the end. You have to be unique in your thought process and the ideologies behind your creation. It has to be something that people can recognize, expanding their curiosity. The formula hasn’t changed over the centuries—you have to be original, and you have to be entrepreneurial. 

Going beyond that, it’s also essential that young artists know how the market functions and how they should place their works. This is becoming extremely critical because of this rapid consumption culture in the contemporary art market. We are experiencing an increasing number of people collecting art, which is excellent. At the same time, art collecting is at risk of becoming like fashion, with trends that come and go every season. It’s great that more artists can sell their works and make a living and that an originally limited-sized market has now become mainstream. However, emerging artists need to be cautious about this consumption culture and be mindful of how they place and sell. 

Plus: I agree – especially when the industry is moving and changing constantly. With abundant resources and media exposure, it can also become tricky for artists to find their originality.

YT: In China, ink painters always imitated the old masters. Going beyond being influenced and forging one’s style is the key. It’s not copying but an ongoing process of humbly learning the techniques from the masters, conquering them, and then developing your style. 

And particularly for young artists, whose prices skyrocket at auction after a sell-out show, their minds sometimes become restricted; they may think they can’t do anything new other than what people already like. It may feel risky to step out of a well-received style, and they get into this routine of repeating themselves. In a way, it’s a tough time for both artists and collectors because everything is now readily available in the digital sphere. Before the digital era, artists and their works would get ‘exposed’ only once every few years when they presented shows at galleries. In other words, they didn’t get judged for everything they did. They could have those three or four years of pursuing other things before presenting a new body of work, and that’s what people see. But nowadays, every day and work is documented and ‘monitored.’ It’s tough. Artists have to be very strong-willed to be able to survive this pressure. 

Plus: For better or worse, digital development certainly shifted how we view and interact with art for better or worse.

YT: It certainly did. I would say the advantages are that it opened up a new mode of collecting. Before, the art market was not very inclusive, and now everything is equally available and reachable. For example, during my time at Sotheby’s, every time we had online auctions, we would see 20-30 percent of new clients registering and bidding because people had found a new way to collect art easily. It’s incredibly encouraging that art has become more open to the broader public and that artists have more opportunities to see and present their works. They don’t have to depend on galleries or fairs, which I consider is a great plus. But there is always a flip side to everything. One can simply send and receive PDFs and JPEGs and buy works from digital platforms. It’s becoming an effortless experience, and a consequence is that people spend less time going to galleries and museums to see art in person. 

Plus: That’s why it’s so crucial for institutions and advisors to educate the clients.

YT: You are right!