All About Artists
A (Neo-)Pop of colour
Discover Japanese artist Hiro Ando and how to integrate the whimsical spirit of Neo-Pop art into your interior design.
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Post-modern and irreverent, deconstructing the way we see art and images, Neo-Pop artists criticize mass culture while also referencing it and relying on it, creating a compelling sense of irony. In Asia, their whim pokes fun at old and new references alike, but artists still find their own way to create an edgy dialogue between past and present.
©Hiro Ando
Hiro Ando (b. 1973) is a Japanese artist who perfectly embodies the movement. His editioned sculptures are the indisputable creative result of Japanese mass culture. While cat motives are reminiscent of the famous maneki-neko (literally, “beckoning cat”), a widespread Japanese icon symbolizing good luck, the facial features of Ando’s sculptures seem inspired by the aesthetic developed by mangas. Makiko Wholey, the publications coordinator at The Museum of Modern Art in New York, has also compared his cat characters to a masculine version of Hello Kitty, another emblematic feline character that originated in Japan and took the world by storm in just a few years. His subjects show how deeply his inspiration and fantasy are rooted in Japanese culture. Tradition and contemporary popular culture are cleverly intermingled in Hiro Ando’s work.
As a Neo-Pop artist, Ando draws on ideas of collectability and reproduction. His series of cats and panda bears are mainly monochrome and glossy, a few are covered in rhinestones or hand-painted with traditional motives. This unique surface treatment is a fresh and exciting take on ideas of luxury, tradition, kitsch and the status of art and mass culture. His sculptures and their deconstructed views on traditional norms make Hiro Ando a modern samurai of Japanese art.
Integrating such a powerful piece in an interior design can seem like a challenge, but the multiple references within Ando’s sculptures enable them to resonate with a variety of areas and design concepts.
English design
This polished white SumoCat is a central piece in this Victorian interior and its ornate wood panels, floral motives and rich fabrics. The clean, monochromatic and glossy sculpture is a strong contrast to the cosy English design, but its finish echoes the piano and contributes to the general luxury, while also adding a slight touch of humour.
©Hiro
Ando
Chinese-inspired design
The allusions to the traditional Samurai warrior are in harmony with this design inspired by 18th-century China, while the shiny surface of the sculpture echoes the luxurious interior, subtly adding a contemporary edge to the atmosphere. The hybrid figure, part cat, part human, brings life to the room with its imposing volume and watchful presence.
Buddha
Bar Hotel, Paris © Hiro Ando
Luxury resort
Porto Montenegro, International Sculptures Exhibition © Hiro Ando
In Porto Montenegro, in the Adriatic Sea, the minimalist design of the harbour leaves all the space to the sculptures. The public space transforms into an art landscape, inhabited by Ando’s warden creatures who tower over visitors and tourists with majesty, and a certain dose of irony: in our era of social media, these wardens are more instagrammed than feared!
Porto
Montenegro, International Sculptures Exhibition © Hiro Ando
Visit the gallery today to meet more of Hiro Ando’s cats!
©Hiro Ando
Hiro Ando (b. 1973) is a Japanese artist who perfectly embodies the movement. His editioned sculptures are the indisputable creative result of Japanese mass culture. While cat motives are reminiscent of the famous maneki-neko (literally, “beckoning cat”), a widespread Japanese icon symbolizing good luck, the facial features of Ando’s sculptures seem inspired by the aesthetic developed by mangas. Makiko Wholey, the publications coordinator at The Museum of Modern Art in New York, has also compared his cat characters to a masculine version of Hello Kitty, another emblematic feline character that originated in Japan and took the world by storm in just a few years. His subjects show how deeply his inspiration and fantasy are rooted in Japanese culture. Tradition and contemporary popular culture are cleverly intermingled in Hiro Ando’s work.
As a Neo-Pop artist, Ando draws on ideas of collectability and reproduction. His series of cats and panda bears are mainly monochrome and glossy, a few are covered in rhinestones or hand-painted with traditional motives. This unique surface treatment is a fresh and exciting take on ideas of luxury, tradition, kitsch and the status of art and mass culture. His sculptures and their deconstructed views on traditional norms make Hiro Ando a modern samurai of Japanese art.
Integrating such a powerful piece in an interior design can seem like a challenge, but the multiple references within Ando’s sculptures enable them to resonate with a variety of areas and design concepts.
English design
This polished white SumoCat is a central piece in this Victorian interior and its ornate wood panels, floral motives and rich fabrics. The clean, monochromatic and glossy sculpture is a strong contrast to the cosy English design, but its finish echoes the piano and contributes to the general luxury, while also adding a slight touch of humour.
©Hiro
AndoChinese-inspired design
The allusions to the traditional Samurai warrior are in harmony with this design inspired by 18th-century China, while the shiny surface of the sculpture echoes the luxurious interior, subtly adding a contemporary edge to the atmosphere. The hybrid figure, part cat, part human, brings life to the room with its imposing volume and watchful presence.
Buddha
Bar Hotel, Paris © Hiro AndoLuxury resort
Porto Montenegro, International Sculptures Exhibition © Hiro Ando
In Porto Montenegro, in the Adriatic Sea, the minimalist design of the harbour leaves all the space to the sculptures. The public space transforms into an art landscape, inhabited by Ando’s warden creatures who tower over visitors and tourists with majesty, and a certain dose of irony: in our era of social media, these wardens are more instagrammed than feared!
Porto
Montenegro, International Sculptures Exhibition © Hiro AndoVisit the gallery today to meet more of Hiro Ando’s cats!