Johnny Depp brings his “Death by Confetti” theme to life on a room-sized, 360-degree video screen in his “A Bunch of Stuff” art exhibition at Takanawa Gateway in Tokyo. (Joseph Ditzler/Stars and Stripes)
Cinematic chameleon Johnny Depp has played a pirate, a gonzo journalist (twice) and an 18th century New York police detective, among his many roles, but his least recognized parts may be as real-life visual artist and musician.
“A Bunch of Stuff,” Depp’s art installation at Takanawa Gateway City in Tokyo, indulges his artistic bent by presenting in five curtained spaces his oeuvre in all these arenas, framed by an assortment of furniture, books, art supplies, tarot cards and other ephemera heaped on easels, in toolboxes, bookshelves and a spacious coffee table.
A rolltop desk overhung with a quote from Marlon Brando greets vistors to “A Bunch of Stuff,” a collection of art and artifacts from Johnny Depp on exhibit in Tokyo. (Joseph Ditzler/Stars and Stripes)
The arrangement seems a bit solipsistic. The art is so-so, speaking as someone who only knows art when he sees it, but the installation has its moments, specifically the “Black Box” portion that brings some of Depp’s work to life behind a narrative he recorded about his childhood, his beginnings as an artist and the cost of fame.
His fans will pick through the clutter and casual display of biographies and memoirs — Da Vinci, Dylan, Patti Smith — like seers reading sheep innards for clues to the real Johnny. The collections suggest faith in comic fate, or the habits of a hoarder. There is more of William Blake from “Dead Man” represented here than Capt. Jack Sparrow, though the skeleton motif within his art summons that character, too.
Depp and guitar virtuoso Jeff Beck in 2022 recorded a rock album, “18,” Beck’s last studio album before his death in January 2023, that received mixed reviews. The “Stuff” exhibit showcases a single cut, with the music piped in overhead, “This Is a Song for Miss Hedy Lamarr.” A draft of the lyrics, and an artistic presentation of same by Depp, occupy one of the early cells holding Depp’s work.
Self Portrait by Johnny Depp, charcoal and pastel on paper, on exhibit for “A Bunch of Stuff,” in Tokyo. (Joseph Ditzler/Stars and Stripes)
A portraint of his mother, Betty Sue Wells, by Johnny Depp in acrylic & Rizla papers on canvas, on exhibit as part of “A Bunch of Stuff” in Tokyo. (Joseph Ditzler/Stars and Stripes)
Further along, past the cluttered re-creations of Depp’s artmaking spaces and a living room art gallery, lies the heart of the installation, a 360-degree, two-screen video presentation. The video short, about 15 minutes long, begins with a flurry of confetti falling on dancing skeletons that escalates to a suffocating blizzard. It concludes with the death of Depp’s friend Marlon Brando.
In between, Depp muses on his path as a visual artist, including his peripatetic youth in Kentucky and the time his parents apparently abandoned him at a school.
The Everyman, by Johnny Depp, at “A Bunch of Stuff” in Tokyo. (Joseph Ditzler/Stars and Stripes)
The images are Depp’s but suggest Gerald Scarfe of Pink Floyd’s “The Wall,” and influence from Ralph Steadman, who illustrated some of Depp’s friend journalist Hunter Thompson’s most recognizable works. Staging and presentation company Tait produced the video with Depp.
The collection of art and artifacts and the concluding “Black Box” will take the casual roamer less than an hour to consume. The gift shop, labeled a bodega for the exhibit, sells the usual catalog of posters, T-shirts, stickers, books and other memorabilia. A coffee bar sells pastries and other refreshments.
The venue is in Takanawa Gateway City, a brand new urban development and business park, close to high-end retailers and gourmet eateries.
Diehard Johnny Depp supporters will flock to the site, and casual fans of his work may be intrigued but the uninterested may find the 3,685 yen, or $23.67, admission a bit steep absent a shopping side trip.
On the QT
Directions: NEWoMan Takanawa South 2F, 2-21-2 Takanawa, Minato-ku, Tokyo. Reach Takanawa Gateway Station on the Yamanote Line, exit the station, turn left and walk outside the NEWoMan building to the south end. The exhibition is on the left; look for a poster in the window.
Times: Open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily, except some holidays, including New Year’s Day. Check calendar at exhibit website for more information.
Costs: 3,685 yen for admission.
Food: There’s a coffee bar inside the venue, and more options in the adjacent shopping center
Information: Online: abunchofstuff.com
AloJapan.com