Tom HAAR's (ACC 1985) photo exhibition Japanese Artists in New York - 1971 will be on at LOAF (Laboratory of Art and Form) gallery in Kyoto.

Haar began work in 1968 as a freelance photographer in New York soon after receiving an MFA in design from the University of Hawai‘i. Having been born and raised in Japan, he had an affinity for Japanese culture and a facility for the language. He soon became friends with many Japanese artists who came to New York to challenge the art scene and exhibit their work in art galleries. Haar found the lifestyle of the Japanese artists in New York somewhat familiar but mostly very exciting. This prompted him to work on a photo essay in 1971.

New York was very stimulating in the early 1970s—in areas gritty & seedy—especially in Lower Manhattan, where many of the artists lived. SoHo, to where the important galleries were moving, and the artists’ housing community called Westbeth were still in their infancies. It was a period when the art world burst with energetic fervor, and Haar recalls “all the Japanese artists whom I met seemed to be heavily involved with great artistic activity.”