In 1996, a regular Japanese salaryman, Daisuke Miyatsu, bought Yayoi Kusama’s painting Infinity Net – it cost more than his annual income at the time. And despite protests from family members, Miyatsu’s enthusiasm for art has never flagged.

Today Miyatsu has over 300 valuable artworks, 61 of which will form his first solo exhibition, Invisibleness is Visibleness: International Contemporary Art Collection of a Salaryman featuring 51 artists in Taipei this month.

The Contemporary Art Collection of Daisuke Miyatsu, published recently in Taiwan, explains how he realized his dreams. “We’re now planning future exhibitions and publications on the Chinese mainland,” said Natasha Lo, who’s both the curator and a friend.

“I used to have a part-time night-shift job as a hotel concierge, as well as my daily full-time job,” Miyatsu admitted. His preferences have resulted in acquiring his quite a few famous – but costly – artworks. “But I didn’t become rich because of this,” Miyatsu laughed, who, at 47, has now been purchasing art for 17 consecutive years. 

Magumodo, (2002) Taro Izumi

Incentive to collate

The exhibition is divided into six categories: conceptual, video, shorts, contemporary Asian, new media and Dream House, with artists from Europe, Asia and the US. But “even when prices have been skyrocketing, I never sell... Every piece contains both its artistic value and my own private memory.” 

Miyatsu recollects first setting eyes on Kusama’s work: “I simply wanted to possess this painting, which brought a sense of déjà vu, like the scene from 2001: A Space Odyssey, I was the protagonist absorbed by the stargate.” 

Infinity Net was his second purchase and currently most valuable piece; it was loaned for a Kusana retrospective exhibition in the US. “Like a sacrificial altar firmly positioned at the center of a cathedral. At the top of the red and green contrasting backdrop, there was an orange-yellow sun-like sphere,” he recalled his first glimpse of it. 

“There seems to be a crimson-red net covering the sphere, and I felt a restless, fiery force within the abstract painting.” This breakthrough became a milestone in Miyatsu’s collecting life. “I deeply respect him for his sincere love of art,” Kusama himself said.

Enlightenment came from Andy Warhol: “I realized visual art includes contemplation and imagination.” Rather than merely appreciating images or colors, Miyatsu established four guidelines for collecting: creativity, concept, impression and background. 

Miyatsu elaborated on the quintessential value of conceptual art. “To collect conceptual art means collecting paperwork, descriptions or even just certificates pertaining to the artworks,” he observed. For example, Koki Tanaka’s Gum Monster (2001/10)is composed of 3,000 rolls of tape to create a four-meter-high monster, symbolizing civilization. 

“This will be completely thrown away once the exhibit ends,” Miyatsu said. “What I’ve purchased is intangible creativity instead of a big, futile installation.” Thus, when Miyatsu bought this artwork, he received just a certificate stating his ownership.

Other exhibits include video art. Jun Nguyen-Hatsushiba’s Memorial Project (2003) utilizes a fisherman undersea to embody political oppression and restriction of physical freedom in Vietnam. 

In Taro Izumi’s Magumodo, actors playing Ronald McDonald and Colonel Sanders mercilessly feed each other their characters’ respective junk, epitomizing both their conspiratorial and competitive relationship. 


Dream House project

There’s no specific theme to Miyatsu’s collection but “it’s important to have a particular personal taste and a sustainable, benevolent interaction with the artists.” 

Miyatsu is friends with numerous artists he collects, including Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, who designed Miyatsu’s Dream House in Chiba Prefecture, Japan, an ongoing project that began in 1999. 

The two have been friends for decades. “I think she was the first choice to design my dream house,” he says of the abode, which integrates concepts such as suburban Tokyo, Chinese-style gardens and Mexican-style housing. 

“Apart from Dominique, Japanese artist Shimabuku took on the outdoor garden and the bathroom walls,” Miyatsu said. “To date, more than 10 artists and architects have taken part.”

The inside of Miyatsu’s Dream House is covered with South Korean artist Yeondoo Jung’s renowned Borame Dance Hall wallpaper. 

“It shows vividly dressed men and women dancing… a reflection of the transformation of an old Korean military base into a place of entertainment for the general republic.”

In the past decade, elements continually added to Dream House include a protruding storage room by Gonzalez-Foerster, bookshelves designed by Japanese Taro Shinoda, a full-length mirror by Kusama, lanterns by Chinese artist Jun Yang and a mural by Peter Pommerer. 

Miyatsu believes his building of his arthouse of dreams is a powerful symbol encouraging the young and hopeful to also collect art: “If I, a common salaryman can fulfill my dream, I think everyone has the potential to be a collector.”