This art book accompanies Altarpiece of Cat Adoration (November 2025).
It features eleven works in total, including several pieces not exhibited in the exhibition: the AFT 2024 entries “The Mother Tongue of the House Cat” and “Friend of Humanity,” and the AFT 2025 entries “The Cat-Powered Altarpiece,” “Miao, Ti amo,” and “Eat, Sleep, Play.”

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“Cat Adoration”

Within the tradition of Western painting, I have long been drawn to narrative subjects—particularly those rooted in Christianity and Greek mythology.

In recent years, I have focused on the function of early Renaissance Christian art, which conveyed the teachings of the Bible at a glance to believers who could not read. I am especially interested in the visual strategies devised to communicate sacred stories clearly and immediately through imagery.

Cats had been part of my family even before I was born. During the most formative period of my life, I developed a deep and intimate relationship with them.

Today, divisions based on ideology, race, and other differences continue to intensify. Yet I believe that the shared love of cats holds the potential to counteract this growing fragmentation. Through the cat—our common friend as human beings—I hope to offer a step toward peace.

September 2025
Tokuhira Kawai

　
Format: 8.27 × 11.7 in / 210 × 297 mm
Pages: 16
Year: 2026


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