Thirty years ago, surf art was not established.

ー Looking back on the 30th anniversary of your activities, how do you feel?

Koji Toyoda (Koji): I don’t really feel like it’s been 30 years, just that I’ve been living every day without thinking too much about the future, and that’s all I’ve accumulated.

ー On your 30th birthday, you designed “Enjoy SURF,” which can be said to be an icon of your work. How did your activities develop from then on?

Koji: I went to California with friends and looked for a venue where I could exhibit my work while surfing. At that time, there were no galleries like there are today, and only galleries that exhibited fine art. I went around to surf stores to show my work, and the first place I found was the International Surfing Museum, where I made my debut in 1997.

ー That was five years after “Enjoy SURF” was born.

Koji: At that time, the person in charge of the gallery told me, “Koji Toyoda is not an easy name to remember, so give yourself another name.” I thought that I needed a name like a band name, so I decided on Palm Graphics. My work is hand-drawn, so I thought it would be a good fit.

ー I see. How did you get started in Japan?

Koji: The following year, I held an exhibition at the International Surfing Museum, and Mr. Kubo (Hiroshi) from BEAMS happened to visit. That encounter led to the release of T-shirts printed with “Enjoy SURF” and “PALM PINE SUNSET” from the newly launched BEAMS BOY. I remember that the response was great, helped by the momentum of BEAMS BOY.

ー How did you feel when your work was recognized by the public so soon after your debut?

Koji: I didn’t expect my work to be so well received, and I was surprised. In 2000, I had an exhibition at BEAMS JAPAN. That’s why I decided to do this traveling exhibition from the “B Gallery” in BEAMS JAPAN.

ー What was the state of the surf art scene at that time?

Koji: I would say almost zero. Even in California, there were almost no artists who used surfing as their subject matter. It was more of a marine art era, and Christian Lassen and others were famous. In the 60s and 70s, there were a few artists who painted psychedelic surf art, such as Rick Griffin and Peter Max.

ー In the 1990s, surf art was not yet an established genre.

Koji: I have the impression that surfing, art, and fashion were all independent of each other. They were not connected, but I saw surfing, fashion, and art as part of a lifestyle. I think Mr. Kubo liked that way of thinking. To begin with, my work is categorized as surf art, but this is what the media named it.

ー So you were not aware that your work was in the surf art genre?

Koji: It all started when a flyer for my first exhibition in California introduced my work as modern surf art. I didn’t think of it myself, but I had a feeling that it would be called that. I think it’s good because it’s an easy-to-understand term, and I personally don’t care what you call it.

ー Kodai-san, you are 30 years old this year, and I believe you are one of the people who have seen Koji-san’s life as an artist from the beginning. Looking back on the past, do you have any memorable episodes?

Kodai Toyoda (Kodai): I remember that I was often taken to the beach. Surfing was so common that I was covered in sand from the time I was a 3-month-old baby, soaking up the sea breeze. I borrowed my father’s board a few times, but I never really got into it.

Koji: It’s a big hassle, isn’t it? There is a lot of equipment and it takes a lot of time.

Kodai: Yes (laughs). I felt the appeal of floating in the ocean and being in contact with nature, but I realized that it was the same feeling I get when I take a walk at the foot of the local mountains. I felt like I didn’t need to become a surfer (laughs).

ー Kodai-san, you paint starry skies as a motif, but perhaps your exposure to nature at sea had a great influence on your style.

Kodai: Indeed. For some reason, I have been drawing starry skies since my first works, and I continue to do so even now. I guess nature has been close to me since I was a child, and before I knew it, it had become a core part of my work.

ー Is there anything that Koji has taught you as an artist?

Kodai: I started creating artwork seriously when I was 15 years old, and it was around that time that I began to recognize my father as an artist. First, he taught me how to choose art materials, and then he taught me that art is to paint freely. I think that is the essence of it.

Collaboration and self-cover with a new appeal.

ー Did you plan to do the traveling exhibition “Unplugged” on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of your activities?

Koji: The curator, Makoto Ikeda, came up with the idea for this traveling exhibition. Ikeda-san had originally planned a group exhibition with me, Hi-dutch, Yusuke Hanai, Ryuji Kamiyama, and others, but the timing did not work out. We had to abandon the idea because of the pandemic as well.

ー So that led to this collaboration project.

Koji: That’s right. Last year, when Ikeda-san told me that next year would be the 30th anniversary of my activities, I was surprised, thinking, “No way!” It has been 25 years since my first exhibition in California, 45 years of surfing, and I will turn 60 this year. Normally, I would not ask someone to produce an exhibition for me, but since these milestones coincided with each other, I thought I could trust Ikeda-san to produce it.

From left to right, Mayumi Yamase, Hikaru Matsubara, and LEE IZUMIDA collaborated on this work. Each of them has created a design on top of Koji’s iconic work.

Collaboration work with Yusuke Hanai.

Collaboration work with Ryuji Kamiyama.

ー Koji-san, it is rare for you to collaborate on a project, how was it?

Koji: I was happy to work with Hanai, whom I have known the longest, and Kamiyama, whom I thought had the same taste as me. I met the photographer Taisuke Yokoyama 42 years ago, and he once photographed me as a model. It was interesting to work with such people with whom I have had a close relationship from the past, as well as with young artists introduced to me by Ikeda-san.

ー We understand that your collaboration with Kodai-san will be your main exhibit in Osaka. Is this your first collaboration as father and son?

Kodai: This is the first time we have collaborated. My first exhibition was a joint exhibition with my father. When I was working hard on my artwork, he suggested, “Why don’t you try an exhibition?” It was a father-son exhibition called “Parents,” in which my work and a work created by my father under the same title were displayed side by side.

Koji: You were still in high school at that time, weren’t you?

Kodai: I was in high school. We had the same theme, but it was not a collaborative work. This is our first attempt to paint on one canvas.

ー Who painted this work first?

Koji: I painted it dark navy, and then I drew “Enjoy SURF” and handed it to him.

Kodai: It’s like “Here you go,” and it’s like “ogiri*”, isn’t it? (laughs) I made the work with the artist, Koji Toyoda, just like other artists, not as a father and son, but as a collaboration with him, just like other artists.

*ogiri = Japanese traditional improv comedy

ー How did you feel about the theme of your father’s masterpiece “Enjoy SURF”?

Kodai: I am now 30 years old, and “Enjoy SURF” was created when my father was 30. I think it is an interesting coincidence that we are collaborating at this time. I think this is the work that moved my father’s life, so I wanted to respond to that by integrating it on the canvas. The stars that I have been painting are scattered around “Enjoy SURF,” and the work has the image of being close to each other.

ー We think it’s a great piece of work, with the two of you icons working in harmony.

Koji: I thought that’s my son. It’s interesting to see two people with completely different tastes, though we are father and son, come together as one. It’s like coexisting with a sense of discomfort. Like the other collaborators, I think the charm of this work is that it is in harmony with each other’s individuality.

ー Another highlight of the exhibition is the self-cover of your early works.

Koji: For the self-cover, I used the same motifs as in my past works, but incorporated what I am thinking now.

The original “Enjoy SURF” is on the left, and the self-cover work produced for this exhibition is on the right.

Koji: For example, my first design, “Enjoy SURF,” expresses my desire to lead a life of enjoying surfing. On my 30th birthday, when I created this, I reflected for the first time on my age and thought about my past and future. 30 years old, surfing and self-expression were the two things that had remained unchanged throughout my life. I thought that if I combined those two things together, I would be able to continue to do both for a long time to come, and that’s what gave shape to this work.

ー What kind of changes have you seen in your state of mind since then?

Koji: I am now enjoying not only surfing, but also everything in life, and I want to continue to enjoy it. So, I changed the phrase “Enjoy SURF” to “ENJOY” only and added “!”. By the way, I have also darkened the tone of the red color. I believe that color is also an important element in expressing feelings.

ー “LOVE” became “EARTH”, too. We feel that the scale of the theme of your work has increased through self-coverage.

Koji: Surfing used to be 90% of what I was thinking about, but as I got older and my career progressed, the purity remained the same, but the percentage became about 20%. Other factors besides surfing, such as work, became equally important, and I would say that I have more space to live in. When I have a margin, life becomes easier and I can spend my time in a calm and positive manner. I think this kind of current state of mind is reflected in my work.

ー Now, finally, please tell us about your future prospects.

Koji: After 30 years of doing this, the most important thing I want to say is that I am grateful to all the people who support me. And I want to continue to do what I find interesting every day without changing. I have seen many people fail because they were blinded by greed. But I make decisions based on whether or not I am having fun, and I want to continue to enjoy myself in the future.

Kodai: I know that he will do what he wants to do even if I don’t tell him, but I want him to continue doing what he loves. And I want him to live a long and happy life. I also like to paint, so as an artist, I would like to leave my feelings in my work and continue to paint 30 years from now, just like my father did.

30th Anniversary “Unplugged” Exhibition by Koji Toyoda