Yoshitomo Nara Merchandise

Who is Yoshitomo Nara?

Yoshitomo Nara is a Japanese contemporary artist. He is a pioneering figure in contemporary art whose signature style—which expresses children in a range of emotional complexities from resistance and rebellion to quietude and contemplation—celebrates the introspective freedom of the imagination and the individual.

Yoshitomo Nara started to paint graffiti on the streets in the late 1980s. He graduated from Aichi University of the Arts with a master’s degree in 1987, completing further studies at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, from 1988 to 1993, before settling in Cologne in 1994. This period of time was a pivotal influence on Nara, during which he began synthesizing Japanese and Western popular culture, as seen in Nachtwandern (1994), and when he arrived at his mature style, as seen in Pony Tail (1995) and Haze Days (1998). Nara’s paintings enact a fleeting presence between the figure and the ground—a result of several layers of paint in subtly varied if subdued pigments that he applies throughout the painting process—in which the figure pops out of or floats in a space that appears to exist outside the constraints of time.

In 1995, he had his first solo exhibition in Tokyo and from then on he has been exhibiting his work around Japan and internationally. His work is characterized by its childlike simplicity, which often depicts children or animals with big heads, small bodies, and round eyes.

Nara's most famous series is called "I'm not lonely". It shows Nara's childhood friends who have grown up to be adults with their own families but still retain their childish qualities.

Nara’s work spans painting, drawing, photography, large-scale installations, and sculpture in ceramic, bronze, and fiber-reinforced plastic. Influenced by popular music, memories of childhood, and current events, he filters these references through an exploratory realm of feelings, loneliness, and rebelliousness especially, which span autobiographical as well as broader cultural sensibilities.

Yoshitomo Nara’s Arts

Nara has had nearly 40 solo exhibitions since 1984. His artwork has been housed at the MoMA and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (LACMA). His most well-known and repeated subject is a young girl with piercing eyes.

Nara's work has been shown in major international exhibitions, such as "The Artist's Museum" at the Museum of Modern Art, New York; "The Great Artists" at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; and "The World Goes Pop!" at The Royal Academy, London.

In June 2005, Nara's artwork was featured in the album titled "Suspended Animation" by the experimental band Fantômas. Other commercial products (including videos, books, magazines, catalogs, and monographs) have been dedicated to Nara's work. Recently, a two-volume catalog raisonné of all his sculptures, paintings, and drawings was completed.

Yoshitomo Nara Merchandise Store

Our official Yoshitomo Nara Merch Store is a perfect place for you to buy Yoshitomo Nara Merchandise in a variety of sizes and printed with Nara’s artworks. You can also get t-shirts, hoodies, fisherman hats or postcards, stickers, and more, things you might consider going to be incorporated into our collection.

Which product do you love? Discover your favorite products right here in our Yoshitomo Nara Merch Store, we ship worldwide fast and free shipping on orders over $49, so you can order something you see on the Store no matter where you are.

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