NY Coo Gallery is pleased to present Kinya Saito’s mixed media/collage exhibition titled “Born in the NYC II,”  and Yoko Saito’s jewelry collection, “Mon Cadeau (My Gift)”.  Kinya and Yoko will both make an appearance for the reception on June 11th.

Kinya Saito has always been exposed to the American culture since he was a child. Having an aunt who married an American, he grew up eating jelly beans and Hershey chocolates, which were not ubiquitous at that time in Japan. He listened to American radio and pop music in his teenage years and his passion grew further in his high school and college years to include American modern folk, psychedelic and modern jazz.  Naturally, he was fascinated with American pop artists, such as Jasper Johns and Jim Dine.   

He studied oil paintings at Musashino Art University in Japan and pursued his career teaching and mentoring other art students at an art institute.  During his spare time, he enjoys driving his favorite American car, Dodge, listening to American rock and blues while enhancing his vision for art at the same time.

In addition, his sporadic trips to the art museums and galleries from Paris to London, and multiple visits to Los Angeles and New York, have augmented his passion for art. These trips have played an integral role in all of his artwork.  In fact, he began viewing his daily life as a form of art and whatever appeared intriguing to him gave him the motive to challenge himself and broaden his knowledge. Hence, he moved into collage artwork. 

His artworks portray a myriad of messages anyone can relate to, and one can feel the love, the compassion and the warmth as well as the struggle and stress he endured. One will instantly get pulled into his world of art as he views it.

His first exhibition was held in Ginza, Tokyo 2006. This marks his fifth/Version 5 exhibition, subsequent to his prior New York exhibition.  

Accompanying Kinya Saito’s exhibition, his wife, Yoko Saito, will present her jewelry collection, “Mon Cadeau (My Gift).”  Her elegant style represents the Italian Renaissance era using natural stones, such as diamonds, aquamarine, blue topaz, as well as cameos, platinum, gold and silver.

Having gone to an Italian missionary school from elementary to high school in Japan, Western/European culture and Christianity has influenced her jewelry making.

Together with her passion for art, she graduated from Musashino Associate Art University in craft design. With her international background, and sophisticated beliefs, her designs reflect her fascination towards the European civilization.

In addition to her beautiful and extravagant designs, what ultimately differentiate her work are the steps involved in making her pieces.  Rather than the more common way of casting the wax mold followed by adding rubber, she diligently beats the metal piece by piece instead.  This takes considerable time, but it definitely creates an intricate and delicate design to bring out more flavors. 

NY Coo Gallery