Yoshitomo Nara

Follow the trajectory of Yoshitomo Nara, one of the most prominent contemporary artists, whose work has grown in complexity and nuance over the past three decades. Thirty years after Yoshitomo Nara rocketed to fame with his Neo-Pop paintings of sinister childlike figures, the artist has deepened his practice. This book presents the full range of Nara's work. Along with his most recognisable pieces, such as his ceramic figurines and ubiquitous portraits of wide-eyed children, readers will discover his earliest works-illustrations on paper that reflect Nara's passion for punk and rock music and popular culture, as well as early versions of his figures, roughly painted on surfaces ranging from envelopes to cardboard. His most recent works are represented as well, including his impressive twenty-six-foot-high outdoor sculpture, Miss Forest, plus large-scale bronze and smaller ceramic works. These and other pieces celebrate Nara's Northern Japanese heritage and confront the 2011 earthquake that devastated Japan. Comparing and contrasting these pieces through Nara's distinctive musical lens, viewers will come to recognise an artist who has become more contemplative with age, and who has grown to be more in touch with his ancestry.