[ MAUKA-MAKAI ]

---

GEORGE F. LEE / STAR-BULLETIN
John Koga's home studio reflects the varied interests of the artist.

Bad-boy artist
takes a nice turn

John Koga says he felt the
need to explore the
world of beauty

---

By Suzanne Tswei
Star-Bulletin

FOR THOSE who can't wait to get their usual shot of angst and irreverence from John Koga's art, here's the bad news: The enfant terrible was undergoing a nice period when he created the 15 sculptures and 10 paintings for his exhibit that opened yesterday at Satoru's Art Gallery.

Koga's latest works are, dare we say, sedate and -- by no means do we mean this as an insult -- pretty. It's the kind of art you can take home to mother.

There are no carved avocado pits forming body parts engaged in nasty acts, which he once showed in a Kapahulu coffeehouse. And there are no mud-and-tar sculptures resembling human excrement, which appeared in a downtown gallery. (Coincidentally, both of these venues have shut down, though his art didn't do them in. Slow business and other reasons caused the closures.)

GEORGE F. LEE / STAR-BULLETIN
The orb is the dominant image in John Koga's work.

SCULPTURES AND PAINTINGS BY JOHN T. KOGA Place: Satoru's Art Gallery, Suite 1640, Pioneer Plaza, 900 Fort Street Mall Time: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, and by appointment, through May 11 Call: 545-4220

There's nothing that comes even close to making people's hair stand on end. Has the bad boy lost his edge?

"No. I am still doing bad stuff," Koga declares. "Definitely."

He is busy making wall sculptures that resemble the human body -- the top end and the bottom end. Flowerlike extrusions come out from the bottom end, and "they look kind of nice until you get up close," he says.

But enough warning about his next exhibit, which has yet to find a location and date.

His current exhibit is perfectly respectable looking, which is a good fit for the downtown gallery catering mainly to collectors of work by Hawaii art icon Satoru Abe.

Abe became one of Koga's mentors when the two met in the early 1990s, and this is the first time Abe has given his entire gallery space over to another artist for an exhibit.

Abe said he has collected Koga's work over the years, impressed by the younger artist's ability as well as sincerity.

Koga, in turn, speaks of Abe with reverence. "He's a great artist, a legend in Hawaii art history who laid down the foundation for the rest of us."

GEORGE F. LEE / STAR-BULLETIN
Several egg shapes come together to
form a ghostly oval in a painting .

But the self-described "rabble-rouser" and "smart brat" wasn't making any effort to behave himself for Abe's sake. It just happened that he was in need of a break from making mischief with his art.

"So much of my work has been dealing with a lot of different political issues and my own issues. It's always been on the heavier side. I needed something to balance it out.

"Something aesthetically pleasing, something dealing with beauty again. Doing this series has been sort of a renewal for me," Koga says.

He focused on an orb shape, a favored image during his studies at the University of Hawaii, where he earned a master's of fine art degree in 1990 in ceramics. He painted the orb in small oil paintings and sculpted the shape in clay.

Koga's characteristic playfulness comes through in the bright colors he has chosen. The orb becomes colorful musubi shapes pointing every which way in the paintings. And in his sculptures the orb sometimes turns into chubby eggs balanced precariously on legs of skinny twigs.

GEORGE F. LEE / STAR-BULLETIN
Clay sculptures are painted in watercolors
and polished with a rock.

The sculptures are of clay built upon armatures made of carved foam. He paints the sculptures with watercolors and adds a subtle shine by polishing them with a smooth rock.

Koga isn't sure of any hidden meanings in his "nice" art. "I've been trying to figure it out, and I've come up with only lame excuses. The truth is, my art never makes sense until later."

For now he's grateful to just be making art that needs to please no one but him. When everything works, "there's this overwhelming feeling you get that's only there for one one-millionth of a second, and then it goes away.

"But it gets you going. It's crazy. It's like a flash."

And to his critics who wonder if the prolific and ever-changing prankster will ever figure out who he is, his answer is definitive. "Of course not. I'd be dead if I ever did."

Being an artist means being in a constant state of exploration, he says, even if it means confusing the heck out of everybody.

Click for online
calendars and events.