The streets of Tokyo and the world of Manga inspire Japanese artist Hiro Ando to create bold, vibrant sculptures. A true polyvalent artist, Ando emerged in 1995 as an illustrator and quickly began executing works in a variety of different media including painting, digital media, sculpture, and video. In 2005 he and artist Saori Nakamishi founded the neo-pop artist studio collective “Crazynoodles,” now comprised of 10 artists. While his paintings depict the urban Japan landscape, Ando is known for lacquering his resin, bronze, or porcelain sculptures of cats in glossy paint and ornamentation; recurring characters such as “Sumocat,” “Big Samurai,” and “Robocat” are covered in diamonds, traditional Japanese patterns, and vivid colors. The various incarnations of Ando’s cats present a contemporary twist on the ever-present maneki-neko, or lucky cat.