On a Floating Bridge

I came across the name Pater Sato in a book reviewing the century in fashion illustration. The name, Sato, a very common Japanese name, caught my eye because there are relatively few famous illustrators in Japan that are recognised in the English speaking world. The name also rang bells for me and I realised that it was the name of a neat little gallery in Ura-Harajuku, tucked away in a side street at which I’d entered an illustration competition last year.

So here comes full circle, the man, the gallery, the illustration. An unassuming tie that links New York and Tokyo through illustration.
Pater Sato was born Yoshinori Sato, after graduating from the Setsu Mode art school – a small vocational school in Shinjuku started by another Japanese illustrator Setsu Nagasawa – he left for New York and worked as an assistant for the abstract painter Paul Jenkins.

Though Pater worked for a number of big advertising names in Japan when he returned after 4 years in 1972, aside from commercial concerns his work shows an unending investigation into women and femininity. He used pastels and airbrushing technique which makes for a rough painterly expressiveness to hair and backgrounds and flowers, combined with a smooth polished face detail that grabs the eye . Some of his work that concerns white children and women, obviously sourced from photographs that look straight out of a 50s holiday brochure, can look a little dated. Others have aged better and it would be remiss to not recognise the national boundaries he overcame, and the international career he established before dying at the early age of 49.

His legacy is continued by Pater’s Gallery, a nice compact space arranged over 2 floors. With it’s illustration connection, much illustration passes through the doors, and an annual competition for illustrations concerning the human figure, cements the concept. The space is a good size for two illustrators with 8-10 pieces of poster size or equivalent each, and the staff are accommodating to opening night parties until 8pm – later than many galleries.

The next competition is coming up on June 6th-16th, and the entrance fee is ¥3000 for 2 submissions, with ¥1000 extra for each additional submission. Judging is by established illustrators who are mostly alumni of the Setsu Mode School.