Everything about Yoshitomo Nara totally explained
, born
1959 in
Hirosaki,
Japan, is a contemporary
Japanese
Pop artist. He currently lives and works in
Tokyo, though his artwork has been exhibited worldwide. 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
Dusseldorf,
Germany. Nara has had nearly 40 solo exhibitions since 1984. He is represented in
New York City by Marianne Boesky Gallery and in
Los Angeles by Blum & Poe.
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, doesn't see his weapon-wielding subjects as aggressors. "Look at them, they [theweapons] 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…"
Nara’s own explanation of his work, then, casts us as the aggressors guilty of betraying and attacking childhood innocence. When cast in that light, Nara incriminates himself as well, for his art is above all based upon the perversion of otherwise innocent subjects.
Lauded by
art critics and
hipsters alike, Nara’s bizarrely intriguing works have gained him a
cult following around the world.
Influences
The
manga and
anime of his 1960s childhood are both clear influences on Nara's stylized, large-eyed figures. Nara subverts these typically cute 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 – if more unsettling – image of rebellious, violent youth, Nara's art embraces the punk ethos. That said, Nara has also cited traditions as varied as
Renaissance painting,
literature,
illustration, and
graffiti as further inspiration.
But perhaps most significantly, 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,
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.
Further Information
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