Untitled, 1994, Acrylic on cotton, H. 35 7/16 x W. 51 3/16 in. (90 x 130 cm), Private Collection, Courtesy of Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo, © Yoshitomo Nara, Yoshimoto Nara.
Nobody’s Fool. By Melissa Chiu and Miwako Tezuka. Published by Abrams in association with the Asia Society, 2010
Yoshimoto Nara seems to defy analysis, but the volume devoted to the Japanese “neo-pop” artist contains some of the best attempts, not to mention prints, of his famous drawings, paintings, and installations. Yoshimoto Nara: Nobody’s Fool (Abrams: 2010) chronicles Nara’s 20 years of artistic success and accompanies two culminating exhibitions: one at the Asia Society Museum starting on September 9, 2010, and another at the Park Avenue Armory going on now.
Born and raised in Japan, Nara is well-known for his anime-like drawings often of children and dogs. But forget the happy-go-lucky associations of these images; Nara’s are filled with an angst and sadness, making them exceptionally compelling. This book organizes Nara’s drawings, paintings, sketches, poems, and sculptures into themes that offer a decent insight into his work: Isolation, Music, Rebellion, and Installations. On the international stage, Nara’s art and the themes it presents are viewed as both universal and representative of Japanese pop culture.
Japanese contemporary art critics Midori Matsui and Miwako Tezuka provide the first two essays of the book, “Art for Myself and Others: Yoshimoto Nara’s Popular Imagination” and “Music on My Mind: The Art and Phenomenon,” respectively. Seeing Nara’s works as a response to Japanese society and culture, Matsui examines the themes of loss, hope, reality, and dream as they relate to modern Japan. Tezuka looks at the influence music has had on Nara, whose notorious passion for music, especially rock and punk, informs much of his work. The titles of a number of Nara’s pieces are from song titles and lyrics, and even Nobody’s Fool is a song by Don Penn. Tezuka also explores the universality of Nara’s work, stating that it “asks for self-reflection on the part of the viewers. Art for art’s sake is replaced by art for people’s sake.”
The next essay, “Subject to Change: Yoshimoto Nara and American Culture,” is by critic Michael Wilson, who brings Nara’s work back to a smaller sphere by comparing it to American artists like Margaret Keane, Laylah Ali, Mike Kelley, and even cartoonist Walt Disney.
Also included in Yoshimoto Nara: Nobody’s Fool is an article by Hiedki Toyoshima, who collaborated with Nara on a number of projects, an interview with Nara by Melissa Chiu, and selections from Nara’s blog.
New Seoul House Mini, 2007, Installation at Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea, Courtesy of Hako Hosokawa, © Yoshitomo Nara
Just Living in a 2D World, 1999, Acrylic on canvas, H. 57 x W. 70 3/4 in. (144.8 x 179.2 cm), Courtesy of the artist and Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York, © Yoshitomo Nara
