Yoshitomo Nara (?? ??, Nara Yoshitomo, born 5 December 1959 in Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, Japan) is a Japanese artist. He lives and works in Tokyo, though his artwork has been exhibited worldwide. Nara has had nearly 40 solo exhibitions since 1984. His art work has been housed at the MoMA and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA). His most well-known and repeated subject is a young girl with piercing eyes.
Video Yoshitomo Nara
Background and education
Nara received his B.F.A. (1985) and an M.F.A. (1987) from the Aichi Prefectural University of Fine Arts and Music. Between 1988 and 1993, Nara studied at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, in Germany.
Maps Yoshitomo Nara
Artwork
"Nara first came to the fore of the art world during Japan's Pop art movement in the 1990s. The subject matter of his sculptures and paintings is deceptively simple: most works depict one seemingly innocuous subject (often pastel-hued children and animals drawn with confident, cartoonish lines) with little or no background. But these children, who appear at first to be cute and even vulnerable, sometimes brandish weapons like knives and saws. Their wide eyes often hold accusatory looks that could be sleepy-eyed irritation at being awoken from a nap--or that could be undiluted expressions of hate."
Nara, however, does not see his weapon-wielding subjects as aggressors. "Look at them, they [the weapons] are so small, like toys. Do you think they could fight with those?" he says. "I don't think so. Rather, I kind of see the children among other, bigger, bad people all around them, who are holding bigger knives..." Lauded by art critics, Nara's bizarrely intriguing works have gained him a cult following around the world. Large original paintings regularly sell for millions of dollars. In June, 2005, Nara's artwork was featured in the album titled "Suspended Animation" by experimental band Fantômas. Other commercial products (including videos, books, magazines, catalogues and monographs) have been dedicated to Nara's work. Recently, a two-volume catalogue raisonné of all his sculptures, paintings, and drawings was completed.
In 2010, the Asia Society showed Yoshitomo Nara: Nobody's Fool the first major New York exhibition of his work. Other major retrospectives include: "I Don't Mind If You Forget Me", which toured Japan between 2001 and 2002; and "Yoshitomo Nara: Nothing Ever Happens," which traveled the United States from 2003 to 2005. One of his exhibited works is now part of a window of the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead, England.
Influences
Though Nara claims to have never said that he was influenced by manga, the imagery of manga and anime of his 1960s childhood is often cited when discussing Nara's stylized, large-eyed figures. Nara subverts these images, however, by infusing his works with horror-like imagery. This juxtaposition of human evil with the innocent child may be a reaction to Japan's rigid social conventions.
The punk rock music of Nara's youth has also influenced the artist's work. Recalling a similar violent youth, Nara's art embraces the punk ethos.
Nara's upbringing in post-World War II Japan profoundly affected his mindset and, subsequently, his artwork as well. He grew up in a time when Japan was experiencing an inundation of Western pop culture; comic books, Warner Bros and Walt Disney animation, and Western rock music are just a few examples. Additionally, Nara was raised in the isolated countryside as a latchkey child of working-class parents, so he was often left alone with little to do but explore his young imagination. The fiercely independent subjects that populate so much of his artwork may be a reaction to Nara's own largely independent childhood.
Recent work
Nara exhibited work in New York at the Pace Gallery in May-April 2017. It was his first exhibition in New York since 2013. Entitled Thinker, the pieces exhibited represent a shift towards a more meditative body of work. Of this shift, Nara said, "In the past I would have an image that I wanted to create, and I would just do it. I would just get it finished. Now I take my time and work slowly and build up all these layers to find the best way. Just like you cook so that you know it's going to be the most delicious, you find a way to make your art the best it can be."
In July 2017, The Toyota Municipal Museum of Art held a career retrospective of the artist's work, called for better or worse.
In February 2018, it was announced that Nara would be showing two solo exhibitions at the Kaikai Kiki Gallery in Tokyo.
Exhibitions
Nara has been represented by the Pace Gallery in New York since 2011. He is represented by Kaikai Kiki in Tokyo, Stephen Friedman in London, and Blum & Poe in Los Angeles. Previously, he was represented by the Marianne Boesky gallery in New York, and the Tomio Koyama gallery in Tokyo.
- 2018 - "Yoshitomo Nara" - Kaikai Kiki, Tokyo (upcoming)
- 2018 - "Drawings: 1988-2018 Last 30 Years" - Kaikai Kiki, Tokyo
- 2017 - "for better or worse" - Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, Aichi
- 2016 - "Yoshitomo Nara: New Works" - Stephen Friedman Gallery, London
- 2015 - "Shallow Puddles" - Blum and Poe, Tokyo
- 2014 - "Yoshitomo Nara" - Blum and Poe, Los Angeles
- 2009 - "15TH ANNIVERSARY INAUGURAL EXHIBITION" - Blum and Poe, Los Angeles
- 2008 - "Yoshitomo Nara and installation by YNG" - Blum and Poe, Los Angeles
- 2004 - "Yoshitomo Nara - New Works" - Blum and Poe, Los Angeles
- 2003 - "Inaugural Group Show" - Blum and Poe, Los Angeles
- 2001 - "YOSHITOMO NARA In the White Room: An Exhibition of Paintings and Drawings" - Blum and Poe, Santa Monica
- 1999 - "YOSHITOMO NARA An Exhibition of Sculpture in Two Parts (PARTS I & II)" - Blum and Poe, Santa Monica
- 1997 - "Yoshitomo Nara" - Blum and Poe, Santa Monica
- 1995 - "YOSHITOMO NARA: PACIFIC BABIES - Los Angeles International '95 In Cooperation with SCAI The Bathhouse, Tokyo" - Blum and Poe, Santa Monica
Publications
- Koplos, Janet. "Making Space for Misfits: Yoshitomo Nara." Sculpture. Volume 30, Number 3. April 2011. p. 42-7. ISSN: 0889-728X
- A to Z. Tokyo: Foil, 2007. ISBN 978-4902943160.
References
External links
- Yoshitomo Nara for better or for worse Works 1987-2017 - Career retrospective at The Toyota Municipal Museum of Art
- Yoshitomo Nara at Stephen Friedman Gallery
- Yoshitomo Nara: Nobody's Fool at Asia Society Museum, New York
- Yoshitomo Nara at The Museum of Modern Art, New York (MoMA)
- Yoshitomo Nara at The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA)
- Yoshitomo Nara at Minneapolis Institute of Art
- https://web.archive.org/web/20090310120138/http://www.galeriezink.de/nc/artists/artwork/artist/yoshitomo_nara/type/artwork
- Blum & Poe Gallery
- Yoshitomo Nara at Johnen Galerie
- Small gallery of Nara images
- Essay about Nara and his artwork
- Short biography of Nara and catalog of merchandise
- Yoshitomo Nara at Marianne Boesky Gallery
- Informational site with two galleries of Nara's work
- KultureFlash interview (03/2006)
- San Jose Museum of Art exhibition
Source of article : Wikipedia
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