ARTISTS

Key Hiraga

Key Hiraga was born in 1936 in Tokyo. After graduating from Tokyo University in 1956, he decided to dedicate himself to painting. In 1964, he won the Grand Prix at 3rd National Young Artistes Exhibition in Japan. This award gave him the opportunity to move to France. From 1965 to 1977, he lived in Paris. At that time, the city was home to new emancipating artistic way as Pop Art and Figuration Narrative. In Paris, Hiraga was first inspired by Dubuffet and Art Brut. He started to paint a vivid and colorful Pigalle, it became the breeding ground to paint a monstrous and grotesque human comedy where erotism and gender is questioned.