Companion catalog for the Imagen Human exhibition series published by Fundación “la Caixa” in collaboration with the British Museum; text by Brendan Moore. On Abe's Toilet of Venus (Analogies series), the author writes:

“Al fusion el classicism European con el Arte del tatuaje japonés, Abe da pie a un ingeniosa reflexión sobre os distintos conceptos de belleza y exhibición del cuerpo.”

"By merging European classicism with the art of Japanese tattoos, Abe gives rise to an ingenious reflection on the concepts of beauty and the exhibition of the body."

The April 2021 issue features Koya's After Young Man Beside the Sea (2008) in an exploration of the impact of Flandrin's iconic painting on artists and culture, along with Robert Mapplethorpe, Mario Sorrenti, Gaudenzio Marconi and others.

by Matthi Forrer. Published by Prestel, 2020.

This oversize volume, lavishly illustrated, covers the artwork, life, and legacy of Kuniyoshi in detail. The section on Kuniyoshi’s Role and Legacy includes artwork from Abe’s Analogies series (After the Toilet of Venus).

by Matthi Forrer. Published by Citadelles & Mazenod, France, 2021, limited edition.

This beautifully illustrated French edition on Utagawa Kuniyoshi includes artwork from Abe’s Analogies series (After the Toilet of Venus).

Io Penso [3]

Da Schopenhauer a oggi by Franco Bertini, published by Zanichelli, Italy, 2022

The comprehensive education text discusses Koya Abe’s artwork in the context of postmodernism. On Abe’s After the Birth of Venus (Digital Art Chapter One), the author writes:

Dall’incontro di due immagini iconiche dell’arte del passato viene fuori un’opera che ammicca ironicamente all’osservatore e all sua capacita di cogliere le “citazioni” dell’artista.

From the meeting of two iconic images of the art of the past comes out a work that ironically winks at the observer and his ability to capture the artist’s “quotes.”

Koya Abe's Red Fuji, from his Animism series, is on view at the British Museum's Japanese Galleries through May 2019. The Animism series is, in part, Abe's response to the 2011 tsunami catastrophy in the Tohuku region of Japan of which he has a connection. In Abe's Red Fuji work, based upon Hokusai's famous ukiyo-e image of the mountain, Mt. Fuji has been removed from the landscape of Japan.

Seoul Art Centre, South Korea, December 11, 2015 – March 20, 2016

Koya Abe's After Young Man Beside the Sea, from his Analogies series, is on view at the Hangaram Art Museum in Seoul as part of the Human Image exhibition in association with the British Museum.

12 Artists and Their Work by Dr. Yihui Huang, published by Routledge/Focal Press.

The book includes an analysis of Koya Abe's work amongst the featured artists. Abe's After Young Man Beside the Sea, from his Analogies project is depicted on the cover.

Dr. Huang discusses Koya's background, cultural and personal influences, along with an in depth critical analysis of his artwork. Several aspects of Koya's Digital Art/Topology of Art chapter series projects are discussed, including Drowning Girl (Topology of Art Chapter 9: Duplication/American Original), After Louis XIV (Digital Art Chapter 3: Display), Digital Art Chapter 2: Seamless series, #14 (Digital Art Chapter 1.5), Café Scene (Digital Art Chapter One), Study of Leonardo da Vinci (Topology of Art Chapter 7 / Topology), After Sunshu Ejiri (Digital Art Chapter 6: Animism), After Young Man Beside the Sea (Digital Art Chapter 5: Analogies), and Minowa kanasugi Mikawshima (Aesthetic(s) | Topology of Art Chapter 8).

The British Museum has announced the acquisition of Koya Abe's Animism series of 26 prints, with the support of the JTI Japanese Acquisition Fund. A print from the series is on display in Room 94 of the British Museum until the 10th of April 2016.
Posted by Koya Abe (Facebook archive), Thursday, March 24, 2016

"Japanese artist Koya Abe created a series of digital prints as a poignant response to the earthquake and tsunami that struck north-east Japan in March 2011, in which thousands lost their lives. Abe has taken images of famous Edo-period landscape and figure prints by artists such as Hokusai, Hiroshige and Kuniyoshi and radically altered them to remove almost all evidence of human culture from view. Even Mount Fuji, which dominates the landscape in several of the original prints, has been eradicated in Abe's works, emblematic of the toll that the earthquake took physically and nationally on the Japanese psyche.
The Museum has acquired this landmark series of 26 prints, titled 'Animism'..."

The Animism series can be viewed in the British Museum's collection online.

Cabinet of Curiosities "From Showroom to Studio: Artists Repurpose Ikea... " by Emma Allen, in the June 2013 print issue of ARTnews, features Koya Abe's After Louis XIV from the Digital Art Chapter 3: Display project.

"...For Abe, the project is about "transmitting an ideal version of one's own image," whether sitting for a flattering portrait with one's finest trappings or by frequenting a store that "presents highly designed objects and spaces that ingeniously reflect the consumer's desire to enhance his or her perception of self-image."

Ingres et Les Modernes, Les Bonus

Bulletin du Musée Ingres, April 2010, Numéro 82

by Jean-Pierre Cuzin, Dimitri Salmon, Florence Viguier-Dutheil

Discussing the related exhibition, Ingres and contemporary artwork, and new acquistitions, including Koya Abe's After the Grand Odalisque from his Analogies series.

Published by Somogy Éditions D'Art in association with Musée Ingres & Musée national des beaux-arts du Quebec

Made in association with the exhibition Ingres et les Modernes shown in Quebec and the city of Montauban, France; curated by Dimitri Salmon of the Louvre Museum, with Jean-Pierre Cuzan, and Florence Viguier-Dutheil of Musée Ingres Bourdelle.

Artwork by Koya Abe, including Odalisque and a Woman (Digital Art Chapter One) and After The Spring from the Hara-Kiri series, are among those covered.

Japanese art periodical Bijutsu Forum 21 (volume 23) includes an article by Nobutaka Takeda, "Gazing at Ingres–the Reception of Grande Odalisque by Japanese Artists." After the Grand Odalisque, from Abe's Analogies project, is among the works examined.

Art Reviews: Journeys That Bring Joy and Fear

by Helen A. Harrison, November 2003

"Koya Abe...with one eye on cultural sterotypes of the East and the other on the "Wild West" of Hollywood movies and tourist destinations...This cultural crossover is both amusing and disconcerning in its blend of mythologies."

(Exhibition of works from Abe's Digital Art Chapter 2: Seamless series).

Press Release

December 2010 – February 2011: Recent Acquisitions – The British Museum

The British Museum recently acquired several works by contemporary visual artist Koya Abe, including his Mechanism of Impression from the Digital Art Chapter One series, After the Bather, After Andrea Doria as Neptune, After Young Man Beside the Sea, and After the Toilet of Venus from Abe's Digital Art Chapter 5: Analogies series... After the Bather will be on display in the British Museum's upper floor Japanese Galleries through mid-February 2011...

Press Release

January 2010: Musée Ingres Bourdelle Acquisition

The Ingres Museum of Montauban, France recently acquired Koya Abe's After the Grand Odalisque, a digitally constructed photographic work from the artist's Digital Art Chapter 5: Analogies series. The work was included in the museum's aclaimed Ingres et les Modernes exhibition in 2009...

Light and Lens: Photography in the Digital Age

by Robert Hirsch with Greg Erf, 2nd Ed., Focal Press, 2012

Published at a time of critcal technological change in photography, in Light & Lens, the author initially reflects that the "ascendancy of the photographic pixel as the accepted image building block...necessitated a rethinking..." Abe's work After the Toilet of Venus (Analogies: Digital Art Chapter 5 series) is included, along with Abe's perspective that "the scanner is the camera."

Exploring Color Photography

by Robert Hirsch with Greg Erf, Elsevier-Focal Press, (5th Ed.) 2011

Discussing Abe's After Supper at Emmaus (Display: Digital Art Chapter 3 series), Hirsch writes:

"Abe reconsiders truth and illusion by merging images of European portrait painting, originally painted for an exclusive audience, and modern commercial presentation, made for a mass audience."

Light and Lens: Photography in the Digital Age

by Robert Hirsch, Focal Press, 2008

Published at a time of critcal technological change in photography, Light & Lens explains tradition and evolving process in photo-based works, while also documenting the photographic art of this transitional time. Abe's work After Laïs of Corinth (Display: Digital Art Chapter 3 series) is included in the volume.

Exploring Color Photography

by Robert Hirsch, Focal Press, (4th Ed.) 2005

"Abe's series Digital Art: Chapter One utilizes current photographic technology to question the meaning of the photograph in culture. It explores cultural disparities and the value of orginality."