Bar Tsuyuguchi

OK, maybe Bar Tsuyuguchi isn't the very oldest bar in all of Matsuyama, Japan, but they are celebrating their 55th anniversary this year. It is a small place, maybe ten seats at the bar.

I did this quick sketch and immediately the owner asked if they could have it. I, of course, said yes, It was then passed around the bar and almost all the customers commented withs things like; “Hey there I am!”, Oh, that's me, the handsome one.”, “See, see, you're over there!”, etc.

We got into a small philosophical discussion about minimal art being better understood in the orient than the occident; -that the western artist hates to leave the white of the paper or the canvas & feels a need to fill in everything. However in the East the artist often tries to convey a complex theme with very few brush strokes. Therefor the viewer, raised within an art tradition germane to the Orient, is more likely to see, be able to extrapolate, far more information than a westerner from minor nuisances in a single line. Hey, this was 3 highball philosophy, what do ya expect, Plato? -grin-