untitled (“Cat of Foujita”), Jimmy Tsutomu Mirikitani

In this collage, Mirikitani affixed a photocopy of a cat drawing by French Japanese artist Léonard Tsuguharu Foujita to cardboard, then transformed it through his own interventions. Using liquid paper, he erased the background and Foujita’s signature, replacing it with his own English and Japanese inscriptions dated 2011—an act that reclaims authorship and forges an artistic kinship. Foujita found cats to be symbols of intimacy and grace. Mirikitani echoed this affection, intensifying the cat’s fur with bold pen lines that merge homage and reinvention. Just as he often invoked the names of his teachers, Kawai Gyokudō (1873–1957) and Kimura Buzan (1876–1942), Mirikitani situates himself within an evolving lineage of Japanese art that bridges continents and generations. His enduring identification with cats—also reflected in the documentary "The Cats of Mirikitani" (2006)—reveals a lifelong pursuit of tenderness and belonging through art.