Monday, 5 August 2024

For 103 Years,

the Fountain Boy was a popular meeting place at Osaka Station, in Japan, 


the sculpture was created by local sculptor Chutaro Kikuchi. Known in Japanese as funsui kozo, and functioning as an actual fountain, the sculpture served as a popular meeting spot for over 100 years until it was removed in 2004 as part of the station’s modernization, the fountain is now preserved at the at the Kyoto Railway Museum,

taking it place is a art piece by Manga artist Hirohiko Araki, known best for his epic saga Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, has installed his first-ever public art piece at Osaka Station’s West Gate,

Araki says he was inspired by the fountain’s history but also the element of water, which can symbolize circulation in the way rainwater falls to the ground, flows to the rivers, into the sea and eventually evaporates back up into the sky. Araki’s sculpture features an illustration of a main character unrelated to his manga series but incorporates numerous illustrations of a Stand, a concept unique to the manga and is a physical manifestation of a person’s energy, 

Araki’s sculpture is part of the WARP (West Art Project) initiative to install public art in Osaka Station with an additional 5 artworks being unveiled in the coming weeks,

and here is a video of the unveiling ceremony at the station.


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