Izumi Kato | LIKE A ROLLING SNOWBALL (Hara Museum of Contemporary Art)

The Hara Museum of Contemporary Art and Hara Museum ARC are proud to present solo exhibitions by Izumi Kato, an artist known for his powerful and mysterious depictions of human-like figures with a primitivistic air. Kato began his career as a painter in the mid-1990s and began making wooden sculptures from the 2000s. His participation in the Venice Biennale in 2007 and subsequent critical renown propelled his career on the international stage where he has enjoyed an ever increasing reputation within Europe, the United States and Asia. In recent years, attention has been focused on his newest endeavors, including the making of installations incorporating varied materials such as stone and fabric, and more recently, the making of prints. The exhibition at the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, Kato’s first major solo show at an art museum in Tokyo, features 69 of his most recent paintings and sculptures. Originally a private residence, the museum offers a unique and intimate space in which to experience Kato’s works. On the other hand, his solo exhibition at Hara Museum ARC in Gunma Prefecture is a massive-scale retrospective of Kato’s 25-year career consisting of 145 pieces that include many well-known pieces and never-before-shown items from the artist’s own collection. The unfolding of Kato’s career coincided with the Heisei imperial era in Japan which recently ended. With the start of the new Reiwa imperial era, the timing of these exhibitions represents an opportune time to re-examine Kato’s creative arc to date and to imagine what new developments lay ahead.

(Quoted from Hara Museum of Contemporary Art website)