Original Painting and Supervisor |
Contemporary artist YANOBE Kenji YANOBE Kenji |
|---|
2024
H2.18m × W12.38m
Entrance outside the ticket gate, Osaka Monorail Osaka-Airport Station
Full view of the artwork (from the right)
Close-up of the artwork (detail)
Close-up of the artwork (detail)
Close-up of the artwork (detail)
Close-up of the artwork (detail)
Production Notes
This artwork centers on a giant cat known as “SHIP’S CAT”—created as a “guardian deity of travel” to watch over the journeys of people and youth—surrounded by eight pairs of guardian deities and sacred beasts conceived by Mr. Yanobe, all watching over travelers. Among these eight pairs, a new character makes an appearance: “Vessel LUCA,” a massive spaceship that pays homage to the “Tower of the Sun,” carrying countless “SHIP’S CATS” on board. It was born as a symbolic presence that carries life from the Big Bang to the present day.
Mr. Yanobe’s wish is embedded in this artwork: “The journey of life in the coming era, as the global environment becomes more severe, may be fraught with many trials. Therefore, I want this stained glass to stay close to people and all living things, watching over them like a cat, and giving them the courage to travel.”
Planning ： Japan Traffic Culture Association
Sponsorship ： Japan Lottery Association
This project was developed with a grant from the lottery social contribution public relations project.
Artist Profile
YANOBE Kenji
YANOBE Kenji
Contemporary artist
In 1990, he made his debut with “Tanking Machine”, an experiential work that involves meditating inside an isolation tank. He creates mechanical sculptures with the theme of "survival in modern society." His works, which contain social messages in humorous forms, have been praised both domestically and internationally. In 2011, after the Great East Japan Earthquake, he created “Sun Child”, a monument of hope, which toured domestically and internationally. In 2017, he began producing the SHIP’S CAT” series, which is a guardian deity of travel that brings good fortune, and in 2021, “SHIP’S CAT (Muse) will be permanently installed at the Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka. The origin of his creation is his childhood when he played in the “Ruins of the Future,“ the site where the Osaka Expo venue was being demolished. He questions the origin and meaning of art and creates works that interact with the environment. Recipient of the 9th TAKIFUJI Art Award (1988, now the International TAKIFUJI Art Award)Location ： Entrance outside the ticket gate, Osaka Monorail Osaka-Airport Station
Artist's Comments
Many of my works of public art, including the SHIP’S CAT in the motif of a sailor, are represented in this stained-glass mural. They were exhibited in various parts of Japan and the world, and have travelled with me several times. When I travelled, I often used Osaka International Airport (Itami Airport), which was completed in the year before the Osaka Expo ’70, and it has therefore become the starting point of my journeys.
My creative ideas come from the memories of Expo’70 Commemorative Park located along the Osaka Monorail line. The Tree of Life depicting the evolution of life as a big tree is exhibited inside the Tower of the Sun, which was designed by Taro Okamoto and constructed in the park back in 1970 for the Osaka Expo. You might say that life is also taking a long journey.
I hope that this stained-glass mural will bring courage and comfort, and guide the journeys of people and life just like the SHIP’S CAT, the guardian god of travel.