KOICHI SATO

B. 1974 in Tokyo, Japan
Lives and works in New York, NY

Koichi Sato (b.1974, Tokyo, Japan) is a self-taught artist living and working in New York, NY. His spirited portraits encompass various examples of American archetypes, such as, but not limited to, athletes, musicians, and celebrities. Stylistically, Sato’s work has a unique vintage tone. Having been known to pull inspiration from old photographs and television, Sato’s vibrant representation of pop culture warrants cheerful responses from audiences internationally.

While growing up in Tokyo, and before moving to New York in the late 90s, Sato was fascinated with old American magazines that portrayed iconic sports players, sitcom stars, astronauts and cheerleaders of American pop culture. Humans and animals pose together in fictitious settings of tropics, the desert or unknown lands of rainbows, facing the viewer while laughing and proudly presenting themselves. Their inventiveness becomes especially clear when taking a closer look at the figures’ fingers in which their polydactyly is based on Sato’s personal decision-making when he thinks ‘there are enough’. A vivacious and playful application of paint with short brush strokes and dots is paired with a lighter, washy technique seen around their faces, with drippings sometimes running down the surface. With the combination of the painting techniques and bursts of color paired with an imagery synthesized from different places, times and cultures, the paintings feel like a celebration of life itself.

Koichi Sato has has been the subject of solo exhibitions at Jack Hanley, New York, NY; Bill Brady Gallery, Miami, FL; Woaw, Hong Kong; and The Hole, New York, NY. He has been featured in select group exhibitions at The Pit LA, Los Angeles, CA; Andrea Festa Fine Art, Rome, Italy; Long Stort Short Paris, Paris, France; Bill Brady Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; Plan X Gallery, Milan, Italy; Ross + Kramer Gallery, New York, NY; ATM Gallery NYC, New York, NY; Bortolami, New York; NY; Stems Gallery, Brussels, Belgium; Parko Museum, Tokyo, Japan, Deitch Los Angeles, and New York; Bill Brady Gallery, Miami, FL, GNYP Gallery, Berlin, Germany; and Galerie Nagel Draxler, Cologne, Germany. 

Koichi Sato lives and works in New York, NY.