Ko-Hey! Arikawa
b. 1978 Japan
Japanese artist Ko-Hey! Arikawa, M.F.A. in Art Environment, Kyoto University of the Arts. Spending his childhood in Okinawa with a big family and life in the Americanized culture of Okinawa after the reversion to mainland Japan seemed very bright to Arikawa, who has a complicated upbringing. This experience is the root of the "sense of happiness" expressed in Arikawa's works.
Arikawa, who began his career by painting and selling artworks on
the street, has held the large-scale solo exhibition "Ko-Hey!
Arikawa EXPO®︎" every year since 2005, attracting over 12,000
visitors during the exhibition period with a long-standing following
among visitors of all ages. His representative work, "BEST FRIENDS
Matthew kun," a boy with red hair, has become an icon known by all,
building bridges between people through various projects in Okinawa
and other parts of Japan.
Japanese artist Ko-Hey! Arikawa, M.F.A. in Art Environment, Kyoto University of the Arts.
In 2023, he held a solo exhibition at the KARUIZAWA NEW ART
MUSEUM/Shiraishi Gallery.
Spending his childhood in Okinawa with a big family and life in the Americanized culture of Okinawa after the reversion to mainland Japan seemed very bright to Arikawa, who has a complicated upbringing. This experience is the root of the "sense of happiness" expressed in Arikawa's works.
Arikawa, who began his career by painting and selling artworks on the street, has held the large-scale solo exhibition "Ko-Hey! Arikawa EXPO®︎" every year since 2005, attracting over 12,000 visitors during the exhibition period with a long-standing following among visitors of all ages. His representative work, "BEST FRIENDS Matthew kun," a boy with red hair, has become an icon known by all, building bridges between people through various projects in Okinawa and other parts of Japan.
CV
SOLO EXHIBITION
-
2023~2005 “KO-HEY! ARIKAWA EXPO”, Okinawa, moon terrace AGARIZAKI etc., Okinawa, Japan
-
2023 “MATTHEW'S CHOCOLATE PARK", FELISSIMO CHOCOLATE MUSEUM, Kobe
- 2023 KO-HEY! ARIKAWA EXHIBITION HAPPY GO ROUND “YOU ARE MY POP STAR”, KARUIZAWA NEW ART MUSEUM, Nagano, Japan
- 2022 THE RITZ-CARLTON, OKINAWA×KO-HEY! ARIKAWA “THE ART EXPERIENCE”, THE RITZ-CARLTON, Okinawa, Japan
- 2022~2008 “POP⭐︎SHOP by KO-HEY! ARIKAWA”, OMOTESANDO HILLS, Tokyo, Japan
- 2008 "KO-HEY! ARIKAWA EXHIBITION", HANKUK ART MUSEMUM, South Korea
- 2006 "KO-HEY! ARIKAWA EXHIBITION", TOWEL MUSEUM ICHIHIRO, Ehime, Japan
