Izumi Kato’s First and Last

09/05/24 3 min read Words: Izumi Kato

What’s on your camera roll? It’s a question to make even the exhibitionists among us squirm. This week, Japanese artist Izumi Kato tells us about the first and last photos on his phone

This is Izumi Kato, a surrealist painter and sculptor from Japan. Hailing from the Shimane prefecture, where myth and legend are central to the region, Kato’s curious humanoids blend the obscurity of human life with the mysteries of another world. Kato is a jack of many trades – artist, musician and fisherman (his devotion to the latter made clear in his image selection), but his art is deeply personal, embodied in his almost exclusive reliance on using hands over brushes. The motifs in his work share similarities with the films of fellow countryman Hayao Miyazaki paying homage to myth and a wider connection to Japanese and Shinto culture.

Izumi Kato recently inaugurated Perrotin gallery’s new Los Angeles space with his first solo exhibition on the West Coast, as well as on the 24th March in Hong Kong.

First: A fish called snakehead

Izumi Kato, an artist, holding a fish that he just caught. Wearing a hat and glasses

Courtesy of Izumi Kato

This is a photo of a fish I caught in the irrigation canal of a rice field in rural Japan in September 2014. The fish is called snakehead, it grows into a big fish. I caught it with a fishing lure usually used for catching salmon. It was difficult to catch this fish and I had to battle with it. It was a very exciting moment. Fishing is my hobby and I’m always seeking opportunities to fish in Japan and abroad.