Satoru Koizumi will participate in the exhibition "Pop Infinity" with artists who are attracting worldwide attention, and will present his official collaboration work with Disney there.

Born in 1983, Satoru Koizumi graduated from Sculpture Major at Okinawa Prefectural University of Arts in 2009, and is currently based in Okinawa. He is one of the sculptors who are expected to be more active in the future as he has expanded his activities to the world by recording the sold out in various art fairs and gallery exhibitions.

Koizumi creates a life with sculptures that harmonizes the faces and figures of various animals living in nature, from ferocious to vulnerable, with those of people living in society. The seemingly adorable woodcarvings carved with traditional techniques provide a glimpse of the artist's deep insight into the diverse modern world.

Wooden sculptures are mainly used to create Buddhist statues in Japan and have a history of about 1500 years. When Buddhism was first introduced to Japan, there were many gilt bronze statues of Buddha, but later, woodcarvings of Buddha made of naturally abundant trees became mainstream. With the rise of the Zen sect, which denies idol worship, the sculptures of Buddha, which had been developed up to that time, gradually declined, and the sculptors of Buddha changed their profession to the sculptures of buildings such as transoms and pillars of temples and shrines. However, as the samurai era became more stable, wood-carving techniques, which had become a traditional craft, became more popular and produced works of art that can be seen in the Toshogu Shrine in Nikko. In addition, with the development of techniques, tools such as tea ceremony came to be made, and woodcarving techniques came to be required regardless of social status. After Japan opened its doors to the world, when modern advanced culture was introduced, woodcarvings, which were fused with foreign culture and elaborated, became regarded as a heritage of Japan.

In today's Japan, the scope of the term "cute" is extremely broad and the definition is ambiguous. This word used to be just an adjective replaced by English words such as "pretty" and "cute" but with the export of Japanese subcultures, it has gradually come to be recognized as one of the aesthetic categories of Japanese along with "apology" and "rust" which cannot be translated into foreign languages. Today, in addition to the original meaning of cuteness for smallness and youth, a new sense of value is born, in which even things that are higher in status than oneself, sacred, or ugly can feel cuteness from the attachment and harmony that they have. As a result, works of modern art that emphasize their cute characteristics have come to attract attention. There are various characteristics such as infancy, fragility, glamour, and loveliness, but it is difficult to see the stylistic uniformity of the works of artists who have begun to be active internationally, which are extremely diverse.

The uniqueness of Koizumi's work lies in the fact that there are contradictory elements such as tradition and innovation, strength and weakness, nature and civilization, and society and individuals. The addition of a new cuteness to wood carvings, which used to be an object of faith, and the extremely ambiguous nature of what is seen through the work is a major attraction of Koizumi as a modern writer. "not which way of living is good or bad, but the way someone lives" says the writer.

In this exhibition, the first collaboration work with Disney, "Mickey" will be exhibited. Koizumi's work, which usually has a rather sullen look, is also inspired by Mickey Mouse and shows a smile. Also, the original work "Without Bucket" will be exhibited as a large sculpture at the venue. In addition, Disney official limited collaboration sculpture and related goods are also sold.

 Please look forward to the official Disney exhibition "Pop Infinity" in which Satoru Koizumi will be participating.