KO-HEY! Arikawa: HAPPY GO ROUND® You are my Popstar!
Karuizawa Gallery 2, 3
2023.09.01 - 10.15
Ko-hey! Arikawa is an artist who continuously expresses "Happy" in his work. He has given "Matthew," an alter ego he created, an ideal world full of happiness and sparkles in his work.
Through Matthew, he fills the world with sparkling happiness. This is a remedial work for Arikawa to rewrite the past, who has an unfortunate upbringing, and it is also an ambitious theme of his activities.
His experience of living with a loving big family in Okinawa, where he temporarily lived in his childhood, the American 70s and 80s’ culture that he witnessed has had a profound impact on the worldview of his works. In the eyes of the young Arikawa, American-made toys and sweets glowed like a dream. The memory of the happiness and strong longing he felt at that time are intensely linked to his ideal image of "Happy". This is why his alter ego is a little red-haired boy named "Matthew-kun" and why the world he creates looks like a world of children.
In this exhibition, which marks the 20th anniversary of his career as an artist, Matthew will be the main character. The exhibition will feature his past works, which were created by composing motifs that symbolize "Happy" for Arikawa, such as apples, triangular-roofed houses, and birdsongs, as well as his new series which Matthew is walking, talking, and imagining freely and dynamically.
It’s all for the sake of happiness.
2023.09.01 - 10.15
Karuizawa Gallery
Tel: +81 (0)267 46 8691
Fax: +81 (0)267 46 8692
Opening Hours: 10:00 - 17:00
Closed: Monday