Visual artist and musician Masakatsu Takagi is not the first to liken his work to "drawing on canvas." The difference with the young multi-media artist is that his canvas is his personal computer. Takagi performs at the Laforet Museum in Jingumae, Tokyo, for four shows on Oct. 27-29.

Born in Kyoto in 1979, Takagi has performed at art spaces around the world, produced music videos and presented video installations.

Last year, Takagi was commissioned to take part in the exhibition "Playing John Cage" at the Arnolfini arts center in Bristol, alongside another leading Japanese audio-visual artist, Ryoji Ikeda. He has also released CD/DVD sets for the W+K Tokyo Lab label, featuring Takagi's minimalist piano motifs and abstract videos -- what the artist himself describes as "moving paintings" -- inspired by his Kyoto surroundings. "If I can discover a new expression or technique, then that's the starting point," Takagi has said.

For his shows at Laforet, titled "Private/Public," Takagi will play piano while simultaneously projecting his latest video works onto a screen. Guest artists scheduled to appear include Japanese diva UA (Oct. 27 only). Tickets are now only available at the door (4,500 yen). For more info, visit www.laforet.ne.jp or call (03) 3475-0411.