Izumi Kato (artist)

Izumi Katō (加藤 泉) is a Japanese contemporary artist, painter, and sculptor.

Katō was born in Shimane Prefecture.

He attended Musashino Art University and graduated from the Department of Oil Painting in 1992.

Inspired by Francis Bacon, Vincent van Gogh, and Itō Jakuchū, most of Katō's works draw from the meaning of life and often resemble embryos or fetuses.

He would first enter the public eye in 1995 with his works debuting at group exhibitions in Tokyo, then he made his international debut as he went into sculpting around 2004.

"Untitled 2004" (無題 2004) is a painted wood sculpture, currently owned by the Takahashi Ryutaro Collection, that appears to depict a baby-like creature pressed against the wall with its large head turned to the side.

On the internet, Keisuke Yamamoto's photograph of the sculpture ended up being associated with the initial "SCP-173" entry of the SCP Foundation.

Katō's sculptures would be featured at Art Tower Mito's contemporary art gallery, then the Japan Society Gallery's exhibit in New York City in 2005, and he'd become the first young Japanese artist to be invited to the 52nd Venice Biennale in 2007.

Kato would respond to the image's derivative use in 2014, reluctantly permitting its use by the SCP Foundation as long as he is credited and the work is not used for commercial purposes.

In 2022, the SCP Foundation would remove the photograph to avoid possible legal issues as it did not comply with their Creative Commons license, while the entry's original author has requested the work to not be replaced in order to let people envision "SCP-173" for themselves.

Kato met a woman named Naoko Kameyama, who was also an aspiring young artist, and they ended up getting married and had children.