TEZUKAYAMA GALLERY is pleased to present ‘Something’, a solo exhibition by New York-based painter Kotatsu Iwata.

Iwata was born in Osaka in 1974, admired Lichtenstein and Warhol as represented by American Pop Art, and moved to New York in 2004 to start his career as an artist.

He chooses familiar objects from everyday life, such as advertisements, magazines and cartoon characters, as his motifs; Iwata creates with his unique technique,  layering thick strokes of color with pop tones. The result is his distinctive, profound artwork.

The support material is not canvas but paper, which Iwata received from a cherished friend in New York. As Iwata marks his 20th year in New York, he will visit Japan with this series, infusing it with memories of the city, prompted by his fascination with Japanese souvenir designs.

Iwata’s paintings, leavening the traces of drawings and painted with carefully applied colors, evoke a sense of nostalgia.