11.01 Fri.—11.17 Sun., 2024
[Opening reception]
11.02 Sat. 2pm-7pm
PAGIC Gallery is pleased to announce the exhibition of Killa Was Here, “キラはここにいます Killa wa Koko ni ima su.” Killa, the young Portuguese artist strongly influenced by Japanese culture since childhood will come to Japan with his latest works, as the show entitled Japanese means ‘Killa IS Here.’
Born in 1997, he is an artist who expresses Generation Z’s friendly and sensitive sensibility. In the era of quality content shared anywhere in the world, he expresses with love and respect his European eye, which transcends borders and shares common memories and experiences with the people of Japan.
Above all, we hope you will enjoy the exhibition, which is alive with his cheerfulness, sincerity, and free spirit.

[Artist]
Killa Was Here
Killa is a Portuguese artist born in 1997 in the city of Porto. Killa Was Here is a direct reflection of the artist’s livings, focusing most of his work around themes such as love and death. Each painting tells a story about the artist, his personal life, or some external factor that has somehow touched and inspired the artist. In Killa’s artwork we can often find some of his iconic motifs such as the Killa smiley face, killa butterflies and the most recent “Killaz” teddy.
Despite the joyful and vivid colors present in the young artist’s work, which end up transmitting a happy and cheerful experience to the viewer, Killa’s art is often related to dark and twisted inspirations. The killa smile, which is immediately associated with happiness and the smiley face emoji, actually represents the unfortunate and common battle of today’s youth with anxiety and depression. At first look, the viewer is confronted with a contented expression, but the twisted smile accompanied by the tear on the left eye actually acts for a hidden sadness, as a metaphor for the characteristics of people battling depression, who on first view appear fine but are in reality dealing with inner and personal mental issues.
Instagram @killa.was.here


