Yuri "Yureeka" Yasuda, the founder of Tokyo Art Office, is the face of a new generation of art lovers.
Hong Kong Art Week might be over but Yuri Yasuda—known affectionately as Yureeka—is still going at full force. When we met with the Tokyo-based entrepreneur at The Murray, she had just landed in Hong Kong that morning for a dizzying day of meetings before flying out to London that evening, where she’s opened the second location for her art consultancy firm, Tokyo Art Office.
As if three countries in four days wasn't enough, she casually added she was soon off to Baku Azerbaijan and Tulum Mexico to check out new art site openings. Her father, a prominent art dealer in New York, may have laid the roots that sparked Yureeka's passion for art, but it’s clear that she’s found a way to branch out on her own.
Although Tokyo Art Office is barely a year old, Yureeka has already established herself as one to watch in the global art scene—a peek at her Instagram shows the energetic artling hanging out with the likes of Wolfman Tillmans and KAWS, and cites power collectors like Alan Lo, Lu Xun and Hideaki Fukutake as her mentors. Not to mention she was one of three women who spoke at Net-a-Porter's "Women in Art" panel earlier this month.
From advising budding collectors to bridging the gap between art circles in the East and the West, Yuri offers a fresh approach to one of the most established industries in the world.
You’ve said once that being involved in the arts has “nurtured a sense of self-awareness”—how has art enriched your life?
I travel around quite intensely, and 90% of the time it's for art; whether it’s visiting an art site, interviewing an overseas collector or attending an international art fair.
I almost always travel solo so it's not ironic to say that these art-focused trips have been the best way to get to know myself on a deeper level. When you’re put in situations that are foreign and somewhat out of one’s comfort zone -engaging with diverse cultures and individuals of various backgrounds- it really makes you become aware of your own character and projection.
Dealing with art has made me contemplate on content more deeply and communication with others more carefully. Over these decades of being exposed to art, my preferences, especially what I don’t like, has been made a lot clearer. In effect, brutal honesty and trusting my intuition has become my approach to business and relationships, and it has had an invaluable influence on where I am now.
Visiting the dusty studios of Beijing or flying 20 hours to reach an exotic art destination has become more meaningful than spending a day at the spa for me. Art has made me explorative, less judgmental, and definitely more open-minded.
