Misa Maria Yamaoka
Misa Maria Yamaoka
By, Denise Zhang
Misa Maria Yamaoka, a Collingwood lifer and Collingwood alumni, is now the founder of Headline Gallery - located in Vancouver.
She was born and raised in Vancouver and has been involved in competitive gymnastics from age 5 until high school. She has been skiing since age 2, and now does ski touring trips in ski backcountry courses.
Misa didn’t realize she loved school until she took AP Art History in Grade 12 with Ms. Walsh, where she found interest in learning about world events through portrait, picture, and landscape painting. Misa’s favourite piece of art is Gottfried Lindauer’s Tamati Waka Nene, because it was the first piece she analyzed through a historical lens, providing a way for her to understand our human past. Misa graduated from Collingwood in 2019, and today, Misa is in her third year of university, having just recently transferred from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland to NYU. Misa’s favourite form of art at the moment is contemporary art.
Art to Misa is a different form of language. She sees it as a fantastic lens to look through to connect and comment on the world around us, as well as to reflect on our past and current histories. It is a universal language through which we can tackle difficult commentary about our society. As Misa put it, other modes of communication such as math or science can give us information, but not everyone understands it.
Misa’s art gallery, Headline Gallery, was started thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic. School had gone online, Misa had come home for Christmas, and she was unable to return to the UK. She had worked with the Whistler Contemporary Art Gallery before and now had the opportunity to go back to that placement. This time, she wanted to take on more of a curatorial role, and facilitate a space for emerging artists to exhibit their work. Misa wanted to have control over that kind of experience, to be able to balance a commercial experience with a museum-grade show. She felt that within the many Vancouver art galleries such as Equinox and Catriona Jeffries, only established artists were being shown, and there wasn’t much of a space for emerging artists. Misa understood that because of the pandemic, art shows were canceled, and there were so many artists who couldn’t show their work.
The process of obtaining the art for Misa’s gallery starts with looking at past exhibitions to see what catches her eye. From there, Misa engages in a detailed research process, including attending studio visits, learning about the artist and their practice, and building a personal connection. There is a mutual trust involved, for the gallerist to place the artist’s work in a reputable collection, and for the artists to produce the art.
Misa has a number of inspirations for starting her gallery, including during a course with Sotheby’s in art business, where she was able to talk with gallerists, understand different sectors, and get a feel for the market. Misa is also inspired by young gallerists in the industry, such as Jasmine Tsou, who was young when she started her gallery JTT, now one of Misa’s favourite galleries in New York. Misa looks up to Johanna Van Gogh-Bonger (Jo Bonger), sister-in-law of Vincent Van Gogh. After Van Gogh’s death, she took the reins and began dealing his work, even though she had no experience in this realm before. She overcame many obstacles, including men telling her that she didn’t belong, but without her, Vincent Van Gogh wouldn’t be famous today.
Misa’s favourite memory of art was during the 2016 Frieze Masters Art Show, where she fell in love with the art market. It was the first time she got a taste of what the extravagant world of art really was, such as the hierarchy within the structures in place, and how the gallery-collector relationship works. Overall, it was a big awakening for her. Another fond memory of Misa’s was when she attended a youth art group at the Vancouver Art Gallery. It was a twice a month commitment, and each time she was able to speak with established artists and curators such as Takashi Murakami. Misa recalls that being able to meet and ask the artists questions was a very formative experience.
Misa believes that one of the most rewarding things you can do for yourself is to find something that you can build a career with that doesn’t feel like work. For anyone who wants to start an art gallery such as Misa has, it’s important to follow your gut feeling and invest time in building relationships with artists and people in the industry. She emphasizes that if you love the art, and never lose the joy of your work, it’s all worth it.
Currently, Misa is no longer practicing fine art, instead, she is developing her own eye as a critic. She is always on the watch for which art pieces move people and what is relevant by attending new gallery openings and paying attention to what is selling at auction houses. Misa’s mentor frequently mentions that understanding where the market is heading is a crucial skill to have.
Continuing on, Misa hopes that Headline continues to be a space for emerging artists to show their work in an immersive way, as well as a physical space or online platform for young collectors to go to start dipping their toes in the industry. Misa wants her gallery to be about showing thoughtful work and helping cultivate a new generation of collectors.
Embracing art and being able to experience something through someone else’s shoes has made Misa more empathetic and aware of the world around her. She looks for aesthetics in her daily life, and something aesthetic doesn’t have to be something such as a beautiful flower, it can even just be a challenging photograph. Once you start looking for aesthetics and beauty in your life, your world becomes a lot more colourful.
By, Denise Zhang
Misa Maria Yamaoka, a Collingwood lifer and Collingwood alumni, is now the founder of Headline Gallery - located in Vancouver.
She was born and raised in Vancouver and has been involved in competitive gymnastics from age 5 until high school. She has been skiing since age 2, and now does ski touring trips in ski backcountry courses.
Misa didn’t realize she loved school until she took AP Art History in Grade 12 with Ms. Walsh, where she found interest in learning about world events through portrait, picture, and landscape painting. Misa’s favourite piece of art is Gottfried Lindauer’s Tamati Waka Nene, because it was the first piece she analyzed through a historical lens, providing a way for her to understand our human past. Misa graduated from Collingwood in 2019, and today, Misa is in her third year of university, having just recently transferred from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland to NYU. Misa’s favourite form of art at the moment is contemporary art.
Art to Misa is a different form of language. She sees it as a fantastic lens to look through to connect and comment on the world around us, as well as to reflect on our past and current histories. It is a universal language through which we can tackle difficult commentary about our society. As Misa put it, other modes of communication such as math or science can give us information, but not everyone understands it.
Misa’s art gallery, Headline Gallery, was started thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic. School had gone online, Misa had come home for Christmas, and she was unable to return to the UK. She had worked with the Whistler Contemporary Art Gallery before and now had the opportunity to go back to that placement. This time, she wanted to take on more of a curatorial role, and facilitate a space for emerging artists to exhibit their work. Misa wanted to have control over that kind of experience, to be able to balance a commercial experience with a museum-grade show. She felt that within the many Vancouver art galleries such as Equinox and Catriona Jeffries, only established artists were being shown, and there wasn’t much of a space for emerging artists. Misa understood that because of the pandemic, art shows were canceled, and there were so many artists who couldn’t show their work.
The process of obtaining the art for Misa’s gallery starts with looking at past exhibitions to see what catches her eye. From there, Misa engages in a detailed research process, including attending studio visits, learning about the artist and their practice, and building a personal connection. There is a mutual trust involved, for the gallerist to place the artist’s work in a reputable collection, and for the artists to produce the art.
Misa has a number of inspirations for starting her gallery, including during a course with Sotheby’s in art business, where she was able to talk with gallerists, understand different sectors, and get a feel for the market. Misa is also inspired by young gallerists in the industry, such as Jasmine Tsou, who was young when she started her gallery JTT, now one of Misa’s favourite galleries in New York. Misa looks up to Johanna Van Gogh-Bonger (Jo Bonger), sister-in-law of Vincent Van Gogh. After Van Gogh’s death, she took the reins and began dealing his work, even though she had no experience in this realm before. She overcame many obstacles, including men telling her that she didn’t belong, but without her, Vincent Van Gogh wouldn’t be famous today.
Misa’s favourite memory of art was during the 2016 Frieze Masters Art Show, where she fell in love with the art market. It was the first time she got a taste of what the extravagant world of art really was, such as the hierarchy within the structures in place, and how the gallery-collector relationship works. Overall, it was a big awakening for her. Another fond memory of Misa’s was when she attended a youth art group at the Vancouver Art Gallery. It was a twice a month commitment, and each time she was able to speak with established artists and curators such as Takashi Murakami. Misa recalls that being able to meet and ask the artists questions was a very formative experience.
Misa believes that one of the most rewarding things you can do for yourself is to find something that you can build a career with that doesn’t feel like work. For anyone who wants to start an art gallery such as Misa has, it’s important to follow your gut feeling and invest time in building relationships with artists and people in the industry. She emphasizes that if you love the art, and never lose the joy of your work, it’s all worth it.
Currently, Misa is no longer practicing fine art, instead, she is developing her own eye as a critic. She is always on the watch for which art pieces move people and what is relevant by attending new gallery openings and paying attention to what is selling at auction houses. Misa’s mentor frequently mentions that understanding where the market is heading is a crucial skill to have.
Continuing on, Misa hopes that Headline continues to be a space for emerging artists to show their work in an immersive way, as well as a physical space or online platform for young collectors to go to start dipping their toes in the industry. Misa wants her gallery to be about showing thoughtful work and helping cultivate a new generation of collectors.
Embracing art and being able to experience something through someone else’s shoes has made Misa more empathetic and aware of the world around her. She looks for aesthetics in her daily life, and something aesthetic doesn’t have to be something such as a beautiful flower, it can even just be a challenging photograph. Once you start looking for aesthetics and beauty in your life, your world becomes a lot more colourful.