© Kazuhiro Hori   Kazuhiro Hori was born in Japan in 1969. He graduated from Kanazawa College of Art. With painting as his main discipline, he portrays a certain nightmare vision of adolescence in his troubling works. The surrealist paintings of the Japanese artist depict young girls in colorful environments filled with soft toys and sweets. Upon second glance, the viewer realizes the toys might be villainous and ill intentioned, preying upon the hapless girls. The created contrast is disturbing and directly inspired by some traditional Shunga Japanese erotic prints. Hiros disturbingly portrays the contrast of cuteness and the innocence of these young girls, while commenting upon the darker rites of passage into sexuality and womanhood. He also uses these motifs to insert associations with the cultural norms and oddities of Japanese culture. He received several prizes, e.g. the Incentive Prize at the Dokuritsu Exhibition 2014.