Manabu Koga’s UNDERWATER GIRLS
Manabu Koga is a Japanese artist and visual designer who has achieved significant acclaim, primarily for his exhibitions focusing on the concept of UNDERWATER GIRLS. Koga has specialized in underwater photography since the mid 2000’s, involving himself in submerged shooting for a number of music videos and movies such as Helter Skelter (2012).
As his skill in this field developed, he began to explore the concept of art produced entirely beneath the surface. In a series of exhibitions since 2013, Koga has subverted the traditional process by submerging himself along with models into various bodies of water to perform innovative photoshoots. Each series generally focuses on a different model and the weightlessness of the underwater environment allows them to experiment with poses and angles that would not be possible in a traditional setup.
Koga has more recently combined this process with his passion for mecha and character design. He was involved in the logo and graphic design for a number of Gundam series throughout the last 20 years. Leveraging this experience, a number of his recent series have seen the underwater models styled in eccentric costumes from lego-like scuba gear to extravagant mechatronic tentacles.
While the photos themselves are already visually striking - with the water providing a soft and ethereal atmosphere to the already sensual images - they also push audiences to consider what is fiction and what is reality. This is particularly true of his most recent exhibition, JCT, which just wrapped up at Clear Gallery in Tokyo. Featuring a model, Izumi, who Koga has worked with before, one of the most compelling images shows her floating above a typical Tokyo junction. The jarring superimposition of her submerged form over an everyday Tokyo scene ask us to question the boundary between real and fake in our daily lives.
Koga’s next exhibition, Expand, will be held from July 20-29 at the Shinwa Art Museum in Ginza. Due to coronavirus restrictions, the exhibition can be viewed online at Koga’s youtube channel youtube.com/peppershop
