I first started chatting with Tomoo Gokita years ago when I was working for RVCA. He dealt mostly with me but sometimes he would turn our conversations over to his wife, Tomoe Gokita – yes, very similar names. Although Tomoo thinks his English is“poor”, he does a great job of understanding my emails and doesn’t give himself enough credit - years of correspondence - and if you know my emails most would describe them as“cryptic”. Yet Tomoo has always somewhat understood them. So my conclusion is that he is far better at English and understands more then he lets on... or my emails consist of very broken English. Regardless, this is why I have forced Tomoo to do our interview in English - this way he can choose to not answer the questions he doesn’t like.
Tomoo is a Japanese bad boy, or so I picture him to be (we have never met in person). His art is organic but volatile
- inspired by music, vintage wrestling, and porn. “I’m simply interested in seeking what comes out of the destruction of the complete. When you break, or destroy, something unexpected appears all of the sudden and affects the whole.” - Tomoo Gokita
What more can I say... He is intriguing and always a great pleasure to deal with.