Born in 1969, in the coastal prefecture of Shimane, Japan, Kato now lives and works in Tokyo. Growing up in a region where Japan’s oldest religions are still in practice would prove foundational to his folk-imbued work. However, a young Kato had no artistic ambition, he dreamt of playing football and being a musician. After failing to find a purpose in several jobs, it was at the ripe age of 30 that Kato decided to try his hand at painting. He simply had a “hunch” it was something he may be good at, and boy, was he right…

A late career start facilitated the development of an unusual personal style. Unabated by the opinions of others, he has formed a vast visual vocabulary, including painting, sculpture, and installation, employing a seemingly ever- expanding array of materials. With this creative freedom, Kato has adopted the unique approach of painting with his hands, as he unceremoniously lathers oil paint onto each medium with latex gloves.

This primitive technique lends to the zany, paradoxical features of his humanoid subjects, speaking as much to ancient mysticism as they do sci-fi futurism. In fluctuating between these two domains, the artist pushes us to look both inward to consider our origins, and outward into our potential future.

Izumi Kato: 'I'm Not the Type to Defend, in regards to my work, I Prefer to Attack'.

Izumi Kato

Japanese

Main

Artist

Printer

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Untitled 38 (2020)