Atsushi Kaga
Atsushi Kaga’s solo exhibition, which I visited the other day, was wonderfully good, so I purchased his art books. I went ahead and bought all three volumes currently on sale.
You can purchase them at this site.
I assumed that paying by PayPal meant buying from abroad, but the shipment actually arrived from within Japan via Japan Post.
https://art-on.jp/atsushi-kaga-2018/
1) Happily skipping backwards 2013-1978
The most lavishly produced of the three, with all-color contents on fine-quality paper, is this “Happily skipping backwards 2013-1978.” The title has a lovely ring to it!
The price is 10 euros. At about 130 yen to the euro (as of March 2018), that comes to roughly 1,300 yen.
With a run limited to 150 copies, it’s a precious collection of works. If you’d like one, I’d recommend buying it sooner rather than later.
2) A tremendous appetite for adventure 1(A tremendous appetite for experience)
Smaller in size than the “Happily skipping backwards 2013-1978” introduced first, and published as a monochrome book, is this “A tremendous appetite for adventure 1(A tremendous appetite for experience).” It’s a book limited to 400 copies. The price is the same 10 euros as the work introduced just above, so about 1,300 yen.
The paper has a drawing-paper-like quality, and the lines carry the feel of having been drawn by hand.
The composition centers on illustration, packed with familiar characters.
It’s full of Kaga’s distinctive worldview.
3) A tremendous appetite for adventure 2(Can I fill your void?)
This is the second installment, released with the same binding as the “A tremendous appetite for adventure 1(A tremendous appetite for experience)” introduced second.
First edition of 400 94pages 16x16cm Drawings by Atsushi Kaga €10
This too is a book limited to 400 copies, but what sets it apart from the previous one is that the cover is printed in color. The spine is printed in color as well, adding an even more charming touch.
Summary
The prices of the works at the solo exhibition were so high that they were out of my reach. While browsing the official site out of curiosity, I came to learn of the art books introduced here, and so I ended up buying them.
I included a request in my message asking the artist to “please add a signature,” and he graciously agreed, adding it along with a cute, simple little illustration of Usacchi!
I couldn’t get my hands on the original works, but I found myself wanting to gaze at these art books and steep myself for a while in Kaga’s world.
