Atsushi Kaga
Atsushi Kaga
Atsushi Kaga lives and works between Dublin, Ireland, and Kyoto, Japan. Educated in Tokyo and Dublin, the artist is accomplished in both the perspectival tricks and chiaroscuro shadows of Europe as well as the flat plains and linear brushwork of East Asia. Many of Kaga’s works depict his alter-ego, Usatchi, a rabbit with minimal facial features, who first appeared twenty years ago in the artist’s graduate show. Kaga’s avatar is not a trickster but a truth-sayer, a benign herbivore who contemplates the cosmos. Kaga’s works create an alternate universe in which the artist addresses instances of cultural politics, personal feelings, and the complex search for identity.
Kaga (b. 1978, Tokyo, Japan) has enjoyed solo exhibitions at Butler Gallery, Kilkenny, Ireland; the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin; mother’s tankstation, Dublin; Jack Hanley Gallery, New York, NY; Tanya Leighton, Berlin; and Maho Kubota Gallery, Tokyo. His work has been included in recent group exhibitions at Galerie Haas, Zurich, Switzerland; Jessica Silverman, San Francisco; Powerlong Art Museum, and The Linenhall Arts Centre, Castle, Ireland. Kaga has held residencies in Dublin; Callan, Kilkenny; Washington, CT; Miami; and São Paolo. He has a BA in Fine Art from the National College of Art & Design, Dublin. He lives and works between Dublin and Kyoto. Kaga is represented by Maho Kubota, mother’s tankstation, and Jessica Silverman.
Atsushi Kaga
Ray Cats with Kumatchi, 2024
Acrylic, rhinestones, and mixed metal leaf on linen
59 x 47 1/4 x 1 inches / 149.9 x 120 x 2.5 cm
Atsushi Kaga
Ray Cats with Kumatchi, 2024
Detail
Atsushi Kaga
Nocturne: Ha’Penny Bridge (After Kitaj and Whistler), 2024
Detail
Atsushi Kaga
Nocturne: Ha’Penny Bridge (After Kitaj and Whistler), 2024
Acrylic, mixed metal leaf, and gold powder on linen
47 1/4 x 31 1/2 x 5/8 inches / 120 x 80 x 1.6 cm
Atsushi Kaga
Sharing, 2024
Bronze
12 x 5 x 10 inches / 30.5 x 12.7 x 25.4 cm
Edition of 3 plus 2 artist’s proofs
Atsushi Kaga
Sharing, 2024
Detail
Atsushi Kaga
Feet on the Ground, Please, 2024
Bronze
48 x 18 3/8 x 19 3/8 inches / 121.9 x 46.7 x 49.1 cm
Edition of 3 plus 2 artist’s proofs
Atsushi Kaga
Feet on the Ground, Please, 2024
Bronze
Scale view
Atsushi Kaga
The World Will Not End Tomorrow, 2024
Acrylic, glitter, mixed metal leaf, and gold powder on linen
47 1/4 x 66 7/8 x 1 inches / 120 x 169.9 x 2.5 cm
Atsushi Kaga
The World Will Not End Tomorrow, 2024
Detail
Atsushi Kaga
Full Moon in September, 2024
Acrylic and mixed metal leaf on linen
70 7/8 x 59 x 1 inches / 180 x 149.9 x 2.5 cm
Atsushi Kaga
Keep Your Feet on the Ground, 2024
Acrylic on linen
83 x 67 x 1 inches / 210.8 x 170.2 x 2.6 cm
ADDITIONAL WORKS
Atsushi Kaga
In Memory of Haha, 2024
Acrylic, mixed metal leaf, and gold powder on linen
59 x 47 1/4 x 1 inches / 149.9 x 120 x 2.5 cm
Atsushi Kaga
Hope is Light, 2024
Acrylic, mixed metal leaf, and glitter on linen
66 7/8 x 47 1/4 x 1 inches / 169.9 x 120 x 2.5 cm
Atsushi Kaga
Nocturne with Herons (After Whistler), 2024
Acrylic, mixed metal leaf, and gold powder on linen
59 x 70 7/8 x 1 inches / 149.9 x 180 x 2.5 cm
Atsushi Kaga
Hokusai Wind (After Jeff Wall), 2024
Acrylic and mixed metal leaf on linen
59 x 47 1/4 x 1 inches / 149.9 x 120 x 2.5 cm
Atsushi Kaga
Ukiyo-e, 2024
Acrylic and imitation gold leaf on linen in 5 panels, tatami mats, and electrified paper lanterns
157 x 224.4 x 73.2 inches / 400 x 570 x 186 cm
Atsushi Kaga
Ukiyo-e, 2024
Detail
Atsushi Kaga
Ukiyo-e, 2024
Alternate view
Atsushi Kaga
You can still talk to me with your absence, 2023
Acrylic and imitation gold leaf on canvas
59 x 47 1/4 x 1 1/4 inches / 149.9 x 120 x 3.2 cm
Atsushi Kaga
Irish breakfast with the family of the cats, 2023
Scale view
Installation view
While I am touching the sleeping cat, I feel as if I know you were there
Maho Kubota, Tokyo, Japan
2024
Atsushi Kaga
A Donkey Sitting in My Void in Pink, 2023
Scale view
Atsushi Kaga
A Donkey Sitting in My Void in Pink, 2023
3D printed ASA, vapor smoothed and painted with automotive spray
30 x 12 x 14 1/2 inches / 76.2 x 30.5 x 36.8 cm
Atsushi Kaga
A Donkey Sitting in My Void in Pink, 2023
Detail
Atsushi Kaga
After one year, 2022
Acrylic and metal leaf on canvas
63.8 x 51.2 inches / 162 x 130 cm
Atsushi Kaga
Cucumber horse and aubergine cow, 2022
Acrylic and metal leaf on canvas
59.5 x 47.2 inches / 151 x 120 cm
Atsushi Kaga
Surrounded by Memorabilia, 2022
Acrylic and metal leaf on canvas
82.7 x 67 inches / 210 x 170 cm
Atsushi Kaga
Cats save humanity. Then we should save the ocean (after Jakuchu), 2022
Acrylic on canvas
82.7 x 67 inches / 210 x 170 cm
Atsushi Kaga
6. Your memorabilia float in the air; the life of the kitten with brown ears, 2022
Acrylic and metal leaf on canvas
59.1 x 47.2 inches / 150 x 120 cm
Atsushi Kaga
The life of the kitten with brown ears, 2022
Acrylic and metal leaf on canvas
59.1 x 47.2 inches / 150 x 120 cm
Atsushi Kaga
The cat who sleeps like a person and the bunny who sleeps like a cat, 2022
Acrylic on canvas
59.1 x 47.2 inches / 150 x 120 cm
Atsushi Kaga
The record player she left behind, 2022
Acrylic and metal leaf on canvas
59.1 x 47.2 inches / 150 x 120 cm
Atsushi Kaga
Goodbye Chami-Chan (Brown ears), 2022
Acrylic and metal leaf on canvas
59.1 x 47.2 inches / 150 x 120 cm
Atsushi Kaga
Just a human experience, 2021
Acrylic on canvas
63 x 63 inches / 160 x 160 cm
Atsushi Kaga
The strange traces I have left (after Jakuchu), 2021
Acrylic and metal leaf on canvas
82.7 x 67 inches / 210 x 170 cm
Atsushi Kaga
The last touch, 2022
Acrylic and metal leaf on canvas
82.7 x 67 / 210 x 170 cm
Atsushi Kaga
Resting, 2021
Acrylic on canvas
63.8 x 51.2 inches / 162 x 130 cm
Atsushi Kaga
Moving forward like a snail, 2021
Acrylic and metal leaf on canvas
63.8 x 51.2 inches / 162 x 130 cm
Atsushi Kaga
The solace of the cats, 2021
Acrylic and metal leaf on canvas
59.1 x 47.2 inches / 150 x 120 cm
Atsushi Kaga
Untitled, 2021
Acrylic and metal leaf on canvas
59.1 x 47.2 inches / 150 x 120 cm
Atsushi Kaga
Nature may come back while we eat gherkins during the quarantine, 2020
Acrylic on canvas
35.4 x 27.6 inches / 90 x 70 cm
Atsushi Kaga
Six different kinds of lilies and hydrangeas with Ogata Khorin’s background, 2020
Acrylic on canvas
35.8 x 27.6 inches / 91 x 70 cm
Installation view
Nerd Bag
Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Ireland
2010
EXHIBITIONS
PRESS
Art Basel Hong Kong Offers Encounters with Tapestries, Tombstones, and Rabbits.
Atsushi Kaga’s World: The Philosophy of Rabbits and the Fusion of Irish and Japanese Cultures
VIDEOS
AN ARTISTIC EYE II: Atsushi Kaga
CV
Born 1978, Tokyo, Japan
BA Fine Art Painting, National College of Art and Design, Dublin, 2005
Diploma at Coláiste Stiofáin Naofa, Cork, 2001
Tama Art Institute, Tokyo, 1997
Lives and works in Dublin and Kyoto
Solo Exhibitions
2024
The World Will Not End Tomorrow, Jessica Silverman, San Francisco, CA
While I am touching the sleeping cat, I feel as if I know you were there, Maho Kubota Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2023
Here I am, mother’s tankstation, Dublin, Ireland
Things Will Carry Us Through, Tanya Leighton, Berlin, Germany
2022
your memorabilia floats in the air, mother’s tankstation, London, UK
2021
It always comes; a solace in the cat., Maho Kubota Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2020
Melancholy with vegetables surrounded by miracles, mother’s tankstation, Dublin, Ireland
2018
The Search for Languorous Magic, Maho Kubota Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2015
I am here with you, Jack Hanley Gallery, New York, NY
2013
happily skipping backwards (2013-1978), mother’s tankstation, Dublin, Ireland
2011
Art Futures, Art HK 11 with mother’s tankstation
2010
Rest with us in Peace, mother’s tankstation, Dublin, Ireland
Atsushi Kaga, Kantor Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Process Room, Artist Residency Programme, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Ireland
2009
Why Can we keep Going Forward? Because We Forget The Problem of Yesterday, Galeria Eduardo Leme, São Paulo, Brazil
2008
I want to give love to socially neglected parts of you, that’s my mission, Butler Gallery, Kilkenny, Ireland
Consolations for Bunny, Nicolas Krupp Gallery, Basel, Switzerland
2007
Bunny’s Darkness and Other Stories, mother’s tankstation, Dublin, Ireland
Selected Group Exhibitions
2023
Homestories, Galerie Haas, Zurich, Switzerland
Cathartic Creatures, Jessica Silverman, San Francisco, CA
2022
Under Current: The New Future of Japanese Contemporary Art, Powerlong Art Museum, Shanghai
GUIDES, The Linenhall Arts Centre, Castlebar, co. Mayo, Ireland
2021
All Creatures Great and Small, Office of Public Works, Ireland, 2021 – 2022 Touring Exhibition in partnership with Belfast Department of Finance, various venues
2017
The Way Things Go: An Homage, Butler Gallery, Kilkenny, Ireland
It happens to be, Pallas Projects, Dublin, Ireland
2015
Friend of the Devil, Jack Hanley Gallery, New York, NY
2014
Sed Tantum Dic Verbo (Just Say The Word), Blain|Southern, London, UK
2012
I love those paintings (art, natural and social science), mother’s tankstation, Dublin, Ireland
One and Many, Location One, New York, NY
2011
Astatic, Sandra and David Bakalar Gallery, MassArt, Boston, MA
2008
Winter Salon, Temple Bar Gallery & Studios, Dublin, Ireland
2007
Timelines, Mermaid Centre, Bray, Co. Wicklow, Ireland
Visual Fictions, Fenton Gallery, Cork, Ireland
2006
The Square Root of Drawing, Temple Bar Gallery & Studios, Dublin, Ireland
Getting on Mother’s Nerves, mother’s tankstation, Dublin, Ireland
Utopias, Eigse Carlow, 2006, Carlow, Ireland
A Moment in Time, Temple Bar Gallery & Studios, Dublin, Ireland
Awards and Grants
2020
Visual Arts Bursary, Arts Council of Ireland
2011
International Studio & Curatorial Program, New York, NY
2009
Visual Arts Bursary, Arts Council of Ireland
2007
Visual Arts Bursary, Arts Council of Ireland
2006
International Studio, Temple Bar Gallery & Studios, Dublin, Ireland
Residencies
2021
Steep Rock Arts Residency, Steep Rock Arts Association, Washington, CT
2019-2021
Tony O’Malley Residency, Callan, Kilkenny, Ireland
2012
Location One International Residency Programme, New York, Awarded by The Arts Council of Ireland
2010
Artist’s Residency Programme, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Ireland
Galerie Eduardo Leme, São Paolo, Brazil
2009
Fountainhead Residency, Miami, FL
Selected Bibliography
2024
B., Marke. “Arts Forecast: Are we not Recombinant?” 48hills. December 5, 2024.
Cremin, Mary and Mika Yoshitake. “Atsushi Kaga: The World Will Not End Tomorrow.” Jessica Silverman. November 2024.
2023
Chetta, Vincenzo. “Atsushi Kaga Usacchi, Kumacchi and other friends.” Biancoscuro Rivista D’Arte. Number 58, ISSN 2385-1708. June-July, 2023.
2022
Scott, Yvonne. “Globalisation and Irish art: a grand scheme?” Irish Art 1920 – 2020 Perspectives on Change, Royal Irish Academy. ISBN 978-1-911479-82-6. 2022.
2021
All Creatures Great and Small exhibition catalogue. Office of Public Works and Department of Finance, Northern Ireland. 2021.
2020
Knight, Christopher. “Review: Frieze? Please. Try the upstart Felix art fair at the Hollywood Roosevelt.” Los Angeles Times. February 17, 2020.
2015
“Atsushi Kaga at Jack Hanley Gallery.” New York Art Tours. July 2015.
Mason, Shana Beth. “Atsushi Kaga at Jack Hanely, New York.” International Arts and Culture. July 2015.
“New York: Atsushi Kaga, ‘I am here with you’ opens.” New York Events. June 2015.
“Friend of the Devil.” The Lookout, Art in America, April 2015.
2014
Sansom, Anna. “Up in Armory: The Art Fair Unzipped.” Damn°44 magazine. March 2014.
Yasuhara, Shayna. “Armory Art Fair Highlights – Top 5.” The Paint Pens Collective. March 2014.
“2014 Armory Show.” NYC Aesthetic. March 2014.
Sutton, Benjamin. “Humorous Artworks Ease Fairtigue at 2014 Armory Show.” artnet news. March 2014.
2013
‘O’Dwyer, Rebecca. “Happily Skipping Backwards (2013–1978).” mother’s annual. 2013.
“Rabbiting on.” CARA Magazine. December 2013.
Abbott, Rosa. “Atsushi Kaga, Happily Skipping Backwards.” Totally Dublin. December 2013.
2012
Blount, Mai. “The Sign of the Broken Sword.” mother’s annual. 2012.
Servin, James. “Rising Stars, Sea of Desire.” Art Basel Miami Beach. December 2012.
Chayka, Kyle. “A Mother-Son ‘Nerd Bag’ Sweatshop @ Art Basel Miami Beach.” Hyperallergic. December 2012.
Cohen, David. “The Mother of All Invention.” artcritical. December 2012.
Battista, Kathy. “The highlights from Miami Art Week.” Phaidon. December 2012.
“Art Basel Miami Beach 2012 Preview: Part 5.” Gallerist NY. December 2012.
Cembalest, Robin. “Snapshots from Miami.” ARTnews. December 2012.
Duhon, Peter & Zwimpfer, Nathalie. “Art Basel Miami Beach 2012.” Art Comments. December 2012.
Halperin, Julie & Corbett, Rachel. “Art Basel Miami Beach Sees Strong Lower-Market Buys, With Notable Standouts.” Blouin Artinfo. December 2012.
Mason, Shana Beth. “Miami Nice? Artfetch Goes Undercover.” Artfetch. December 2012.
Pryor, Riah. “Busy start for younger galleries at the fair.” The Art Newspaper. December 2012.
Abbott, Rosa. “I Love Those Paintings @ Mother’s Tankstation.” Totally Dublin. April 2012.
“Location One: One and Many.” island. January 2012.
2011
“Atsushi Kaga.” LEAP Art HK II Supplement. July 2011.
Greg Cook. “Cartoon Network.” Boston Phoenix. February 18, 2011.
2010
“Hay un conejo sobre la calavera de Michael Jackson.” www.dadanoias.net. December 2010.
“re(tour) sur foire.” Bonnie Bulle. November 2010.
Blount, Mai. “Universal Soul Grammar.” mother’s annual. 2010.
“Atsushi Kaga, 31, Artist.” Sunday Business Post. July 2010.
Reddin, Daragh. “Atsushi Kaga: Rest With Us in Peace.” Metro. June 8, 2010.
“Der Künstler Atsushi Kaga …” Bavarian State Opera Magazine N°6. June 2010.
“Furry creatures.” Image Interiors. May–June 2010.
“Atsushi Kaga.” Urban Outfitters blog. February, 2010.
2009
W. David Marx. “Genius.” Nylon Guys. July 2009.
2008
Parker, Sarah. “Atsushi Kaga.” Start Magazine. Autumn 2008.
McCarthy, Gerry. “Super Funny Animals.” The Sunday Times. August 4, 2008.
Dunne, Aidan. “All eyes on the Marble City.” The Irish Times. August 15, 2008.
Gorman, Sophie. “Bunnies, Slogans and Donuts? It must be an arts festival.” Irish Independent. August 2008.
Boylan, Helen. “Exhibitions.” The Sunday Business Post. August 3, 2008.
‘Nada Art Fair’, Miami Sun Post. December 4, 2008.
2007
“Atsushi Kaga.” okokok.com. December 27, 2007.
Kelleher, James. “Animal Art: Artist Atsushi Kaga on Weeping Pandas, Bunnies and Doughnuts.” Totally Dublin. Issue 49. October 2007.
Clancy, Luke. “Bunny’s Darkness and Other Stories.” Art Review. September 2007.
Fite-Wassilak, Chris. “Irrevocable Consequences.” mother’s annual. 2007.
Dunne, Aidan. “The Arts.” The Irish Times. May 30, 2007.
McIntosh, Jacqui. “Bunny’s Dystopia.” Magill. June–July 2007.
“The Bankable Artists Collection.” Sunday Tribune. September 16, 2007.
White, Trevor. “Atsushi Kaga: The Japanese.” The Dubliner. September 14, 2007.
White, Lucy. “A very funny bunny.” Metro. May 25, 2007.
2006
Pierce, Sarah. “Bad behaviour: What’s gotten into mom?” mother’s annual. 2006.
2005
Dunne, Aidan. “The Arts.” The Irish Times. June 13, 2005.
Emerging Artists 2005, Ashford Gallery. 2005.
Public Collections
Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
The Adachi Foundation, Tokyo, Japan