is a Japanese contemporary artist, painter, and sculptor.
Career
Katō was born in Shimane Prefecture. He attended
Musashino Art University
or is a private university in Kodaira, Western Tokyo, founded in 1962 with roots going back to 1929. It is known as one of the leading art universities in Japan.
History
In October 1929, was founded. In December 1948, it became , and in ...
and graduated from the Department of Oil Painting in 1992.
He would first enter the public eye in 1995, with his paintings debuting at group exhibitions in Tokyo.
Inspired by
Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626) was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England under King James I. Bacon argued for the importance of nat ...
,
Vincent van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artworks ...
, and
Itō Jakuchū, most of Katō's sculptures draw from the meaning of life,
often resembling embryos or fetuses,
and his works are intentionally left untitled to challenge the audience. He made his international debut as he went into sculpting around 2004.
Katō's sculptures would be featured at
Art Tower Mito
is an arts complex in Mito, Ibaraki, Japan. It opened in 1990 as part of the centennial celebrations of the municipality of Mito. There is a concert hall that seats 680, a theater for up to 636, a contemporary art gallery, and a landmark tower, ...
's contemporary art gallery, then the
Japan Society Gallery's exhibit in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
in 2005.
In 2007, he was discovered by American curator
Robert Storr, who noted that Kato's works were more abrasive and edgier than most Japanese works,
which led to Storr inviting Kato to be the first young Japanese artist at the
52nd Venice Biennale.
Untitled 2004
is a painted wood sculpture, currently owned by the Takahashi Ryutaro Collection,
that appears to depict a baby-like creature pressed against the wall with its large head turned to the side.
On the internet, Keisuke Yamamoto's photograph of the sculpture was used in the 2007
4chan
4chan is an anonymous English-language imageboard website. Launched by Christopher "moot" Poole in October 2003, the site hosts boards dedicated to a wide variety of topics, from video games and television to literature, cooking, weapons, mu ...
post that described it as "SCP-173": the first entry in what became the
SCP Foundation
The SCP Foundation is a fictional organization featured in stories created by contributors on the SCP Wiki, a wiki-based Collaborative fiction, collaborative writing project. Within the project's shared universe, shared fictional universe, the ...
writing project. In 2014, Kato responded to the image's derivative use, reluctantly permitting its use by the SCP Foundation as long as he is credited and the work is not used for commercial purposes.
In 2022, the SCP Foundation removed the photograph to avoid possible legal issues as it did not comply with their
Creative Commons license
A Creative Commons (CC) license is one of several public copyright licenses that enable the free distribution of an otherwise copyrighted "work". A CC license is used when an author wants to give other people the right to share, use, and bu ...
, while the entry's original author has requested the work to not be replaced in order to let people envision "SCP-173" for themselves.
Personal life
Kato met a woman named Naoko Kameyama, who was also an aspiring young artist, and they ended up getting married
and had children.
References
External links
Izumi Kato
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kato, Izumi
1969 births
Living people
Artists from Shimane Prefecture
Japanese contemporary artists
Japanese sculptors