NEO MANEKINEKO -petit-

This is a new series in which Koga's previous Manekineko (beckoning cat) works have been reduced to roughly one-third their original size.
While visiting New York, Koga spotted a "maneki-neko" in a shop with no apparent connection to Japan. Surprised by its striking presence even within a foreign culture, this experience became the impetus for this series.

Koga's style is grounded in the classical forms of Japanese art. His signature piece {Hoyoroi Sakazuki}, for instance, takes as its motif the "kawari-kabuto" (distinctively individual helmets) of Warring States warlords, reborn as a contemporary form — with Koga adding his own "concept", a lens on contemporary society and beyond. In this "maneki-neko" too, based on the typical form, studs — which Koga uses as a symbol of "power" and "rebellious spirit" — are attached, visualizing "divine power" and "great ambition". In this way, the role long carried by the "maneki-neko" is inherited, and by giving the work Koga's own view of and thinking on contemporary society, it becomes a new "maneki-neko" for the present day. This piece was presented for a 2022 solo exhibition in Osaka, themed on the 1970 Osaka Expo. The flames rising behind the maneki-neko draw on the imagery of flame-rimmed Jomon pottery (kaen-doki). Note the lightning-like red lines and the eyes.