Imagine the gentle good humor to be found in the name Michael England but being, say, Scottish. In fact England's mother is Irish and his father Welsh, so quite the national conundrum. "Do I think of myself as Gaelic? Only when drinking and dancing. First and foremost I'm a painter."
His second exhibition in Tokyo, which will open Dec. 4 at Gallery Urano in Asakusa-bashi, is quite a stretch from the rarefied atmosphere of the Ginza art scene. His work -- while abstracted -- lacks any sense of ego or the pretentious; England is very much his own man and makes no compromises.
We met in a downpour (very English, we agreed) in Asagaya, where he is staying with his father. We talked in Art Cafe, near the station, watching leaves gust past the windows and rain beat on the glass. Terrible weather, we again agreed. But as he laid out photocopies of his work to give some idea of his painterly progress, the sun came out. Not literally (far too much to hope for), but in terms of the juxtaposition of colors, light and shade. "Call it visual jazz."