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At the 2022 Taipei Toy Festival(TTF) Chukukobo Studio booth, a colorful sofubi bear "Friday Bear" with strong hand-painted lines attracted everyone's attention. The relaxed and playful atmosphere exuding from his whole body captured the Toy People's heart! A year later, Toy People is lucky enough to have an exclusive interview with the creator of “Friday Bear”—Rob Kidney, a British artist who has lived in Japan for more than 20 years. He is not only an art illustrator active in music, clothing, magazines and other fields, but is also the owner of the Tokyo art gallery "WISH LESS".
The Toy People Editorial Department took the opportunity of this interview to ask him to share with us a short story about "Friday Bear" and his rich creative experience! Everyone, let’s follow the editor to get to know Rob Kidney better and further explore his cute creations from the following interview~
TOY PEOPLE：What major did you study in school in the past? What kind of work did you do before?
Rob Kidney：When I left high school I began a 2 year apprenticeship studying lithographic printing at the London College of Communication, I worked in the printing industry for a total of nine years. Aged twenty five I joined a two year part-time art foundation course at Northbrook college in Worthing , I used this to gain skills and build up a substantial portfolio of my creative work. My next step was studying for a degree in illustration at The University of Brighton , I was thirty when I graduated and began working as a freelance illustrator.
TOY PEOPLE：What prompted you to open the gallery "WISH LESS" in Tokyo? How does "WISH LESS" select the exhibition content?
Rob Kidney：I was working as an artist / illustrator and my wife Yoko was a freelance graphic designer. At that point I had been living in Japan for ten years and was starting to find that I was experiencing feelings of isolation due to long hours spent alone in my studio , I knew it was time to make a big change. A common topic of conversation between Yoko and myself was the frustration at the lack of artist-run alternative galleries in Tokyo , I had many creative friends back in the UK who were hungry to show their work in Japan and often asked me to suggest spaces suitable for them.At this point the idea of opening our own gallery was born .
It took us one year of research to find a suitable area and property in Tokyo, we chose the quiet neighbourhood of Tabata on the Yamanote line. One hundred years ago Tabata was known as “ the Monmatre of Japan.” It was once a bohemian district of painters, poets and writers.
Since we opened in 2012 our curation process has been about showing the artists we truly love and respect from Japan and abroad. Enabling artists from overseas to have their first experience of a solo exhibition in Japan is a very rewarding experience. Our aim is to maintain a high standard of exhibitions that are stimulating for the viewer, without chasing art trends.
TOY PEOPLE：How did you start launching your own toys?
Rob Kidney：Creating a three-dimensional version of one of my my characters had been a dream for many years. As an artist who is constantly creating new characters, it was a real challenge to choose one character to develop into a soft vinyl figure. During my time in Tokyo I had discussed manufacturing a figure with various companies, but I had never quite found the right company to work with. I was introduced to the founder and CEO of the Tokyo based toy manufacturer ‘Kenelephant’ at my gallery, I showed him a selection of my favourite character drawings and he said they had the potential to be developed into soft vinyl figures. After much discussion we chose my character ‘FRIDAY BEAR’ to be developed into a figure .
TOY PEOPLE：Could you please share with us the experience of working with "Chukukobo"? For example, the process of launching a work? (sketches, prototypes, paints...etc)
Rob Kidney：Chuku kobo is the art toy division of Kenelephant, working with them has been a truly educational experience as I had never made a soft vinyl figure before. The first stage was to create illustrations to show the side and back view of Friday Bear, I found this quite challenging and decided to also create a paper clay version to try and capture his body shape. I was very lucky to be working with one of the best toy sculpture studios in Japan , when I visited the studio to see the first wax prototype of FRIDAY BEAR I was speechless!
Their attention to detail and realisation of the back view was incredible. I requested two small changes, the first was to reduce the size of his nose and the second was to make him a little fatter. It was important that the first colour version should be a close as possible to my initial drawing, so I used the DIC colour guide to specify the colours .
For the packaging I decided on a cardboard box with a clear window as it reminded me of figures I loved from my youth. On the back of the box I included the original FRIDAY BEAR drawing, I thought it was essential to show how the skilled model maker had captured the personality and energy of the initial drawing in the soft vinyl figure.
TOY PEOPLE：What is the origin of the name "FRIDAY BEAR"?
Rob Kidney：FRIDAY BEAR is my first manufactured toy. I think it’s best if I let FRIDAY BEAR introduce himself!
“My name is FRIDAY BEAR, I live and work in Tokyo. I don’t really like my job in an office in the city, so every Friday when I finish work to cheer myself up I head to Shibuya to go digging for second hand dance music records. On my way to the record shop I often take a rest in a small park and have a can of beer or a cup sake , it always makes my face go pink!
When I’m digging I forget all my troubles and often spend too much money on rare records. I always carry my twelve inch record bag in my right hand and my seven inch record bag in my left hand , years of doing this have lead to my body becoming slightly twisted and I’ve got a herniated disc in my lower spine.
I spend most of my money on records so I can only afford a cheap shiny suit from the discount store, it’s a little bit tight as I’ve gained weight because I often eat junk food for dinner at my tiny apartment after a night of digging for vinyl.”
TOY PEOPLE： In what ways do you usually inspire your creations? Is there any special ceremony?
Rob Kidney：My routine as an artist is to draw on a daily basis, I’m constantly imagining and inventing new characters. Some of these characters will never be drawn again and others will be refined and developed and given a personality. I’m inspired by my life in Tokyo, a city that bombards you with visual stimulation and is especially rich in cute character illustrations in everyday life .
A great example of this is the inspiration behind FRIDAY BEAR, I love digging for used records and often go to Shibuya on a Friday evening to check the record stores, I noticed that most of the other customers in the stores were wearing suits as they had just finished work and were deep in concentration as they went through the record racks. So the idea of a hardworking, suit-wearing bear who loves record shopping was born !
TOY PEOPLE：Which of the works you have created so far is your favorite? Why? Which one impressed you the most during the creative process?
Rob Kidney：It’s quite hard to choose one particular project as a favourite , but working with the British electronic music duo Basement Jaxx on their second album Rooty on XL- Recordings was a truly life changing experience.
“Rooty” album cover by Rob Kidney for Basement Jaxx. Image credit:TurntableLab
I had just graduated from university and was asked to produce illustrations and hand lettering for the album cover , I also created illustrations for all the singles released from the album. This lead to me working on motion graphics for their stage show and co-directing the music video for the track ‘ Jus 1 Kiss’ .
I really enjoyed working closely with such talented musicians and felt a great desire to provide artwork that was a true visual representation of their unique sound. Working within the music industry has been something I’ve been lucky enough to do at various times in my career and is something I find truly rewarding.
TOY PEOPLE：What kind of environment do you like to create works? Please share with us what your studio looks like~
Rob Kidney：My work space is divided in between two small studios, one is a clean space for drawing and ideas development and contains my music collection of records and CDs, turntables and a library of art and design reference books . The other studio is used mainly for painting and messier activities.
Both studios are quite chaotic , I’m an artist who enjoys having materials at my fingertips at all time. Music is the backbone of my creative practice, I usually burn 10 hour MP3 CDs of instrumental techno DJ mixes for the studio , I find that these put me into a kind of trance and I can get lost in the creative process. I’m lucky that my studio building doesn’t have any neighbours, so I can turn the volume up high!
TOY PEOPLE：Besides your own creations, do you have any other toys or anything in your collection? Have you been particularly obsessed with any new toys lately?
Rob Kidney：I have actually streamlined my figure collection over the last ten years. When I first came to Tokyo I spent a lot of time digging in places like Nakano Broadway and built up a big collection. Recently I’ve become fascinated by Japanese holiday resort souvenir figures from the 70’s and 80’s , I love the colours and materials that are used. I feel these souvenir figures inhabit the space where mass production and craft intersect.
A charming new toy that recently joined my collection is Pamela Sustaita’s ‘Lamby ‘ figure produced by Ediciones Figuritas in Mexico. I love Pamela’s art and this figure really captures the essence of her mark making and is beautifully packaged.
TOY PEOPLE：Besides creating, what are your hobbies? Please give your fans the chance to get to know you better!
Rob Kidney：My real passion is digging for used records, CDs , antiques and books. Tokyo is a wonderful place to satisfy my cravings for these things! I also enjoy DJing with 7 inch records at small bars and clubs in Tokyo. I love caring for indoor plants and have a large collection , my favourites are palms , cacti and carnivorous plants.
TOY PEOPLE：Please write down the answer (or draw a picture) in your own handwriting.
Rob Kidney：
→ Rob Kidney × TOY PEOPLE 「FRIDAY BEAR - TOY PEOPLE Ver.」 / International Lottery information
Keep follow Rob Kidney’s latest creations!
→ Rob Kidney Instagram
→ 「WISH LESS gallery」Instagram
