Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Yoshitomo Nara


Yoshitomo Nara is a Japanese artist living and working out of Tokyo. His works have been displayed worldwide. Many of Nara's works involve young cartoonish children partaking in some devious activity, or yielding weapons. The "Oh! My God! I Miss You!" piece above is actually a postcard book containing thirty postcards with prints of Nara's works. He is also known for his dog drawings and sculptures. According to an article by the Oxford University Press, "The paintings, drawings and sculptures of seemingly innocent, wide-eyed children and dogs that have become his trademark are an attempt to capture this childhood sense of boredom and frustration and recapture the fierce independence natural to children." The "Oh! My God! I Miss You!" piece above is actually the front cover of a postcard book containing thirty postcards with prints of Nara's works.

Yoshitomo Nara, "Too Young to Die" 2001

There has been some controversy over whether or not the weapon yielding children can be seen as hateful and full of aggression. Nara, however states, "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…" 
link to the Tomio Koyama Gallery's website, which has multiple Yoshitomo Nara pieces. 
Yoshitomo Nara, "The Little Judge" 2001

Sources: http://www.moma.org/collection/artist.php?artist_id=25523


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