Ken Kagami is one very strange, very cool guy. He’s a Japanese artist based in Tokyo and spends his days flipping pop culture on its head, running his shop Strange Store and Instagram-ing everything from his latest experiments to his very cool daughter.
If you’re a bit confused looking at Ken’s work, we won’t blame you. His style is at once eccentric and simplistic, combining innocence and adultery with a good measure of black humour. Charlie Brown getting down with Snoopy, messed up Bart Simpson, E.T fan art, genitals, sex, poop, dogs, toys, brands… Ken’s subject matter knows no bounds. He takes a look at pop culture and celebrates it by perverting and inverting it. It’s a humorous confrontation of all that is taboo and we think it is so much fun.
Ken works in a wide range of mediums from sculpture and drawings to installations and publications. He’s taken part in numerous solo and group shows throughout Japan and the world and the style of the work is just as broad. His most recent solo show in Tokyo was very slick, very contemporary, titled DOG and explored a dog’s point of view. Alternatively, last year at the Frieze Art Fair in London, Ken was set up in a booth drawing punters’ genitals as he would imagine them, inspired by only their face. You just never know what this guy’s gonna do next.
We recommend a follow on his Instagram account - every day is a surprise. Recent updates include a bloodied artificial finger perched on an ash tray, a pair of underpants fashioned from Amazon packaging and a fake burger sandwiched around a foot. His unpredictability is incredible, and he’s gotta be the coolest dad of all time.
See more from Ken Kagami on his website, Instagram and check out Strange Store when you're next in Tokyo!
