Yoshitomo Nara
Yoshitomo Nara | |
|---|---|
Nara at the Yokohama Art Museum, 2012 | |
| Born | 5 December 1959 Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, Japan |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Alma mater | Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, Germany Aichi Prefectural University of Fine Arts and Music, Nagakute Aichi, Japan |
| Known for | sculpture, painting |
| Notable work | Knife Behind Back (2000), Sorry, couldn't draw left eye! (2003), Straight Jacket (2000), Sprout the Ambassador (2001) |
| Awards | Award for Artist, Nagoya, Japan, 1995 |
Yoshitomo Nara (奈良 美智, Nara Yoshitomo; born 5 December 1959 in Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, Japan) is a Japanese artist. He lives and works in Nasushiobara, Tochigi Prefecture, though his artwork has been exhibited worldwide. Nara has had nearly 40 solo exhibitions since 1984. His art work has been housed at the MoMA and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). His most well-known and repeated subjects are "big-headed girls" with piercing eyes, who one Nara scholar describes as having "childlike expressions [that] resonate with adult emotions, [their] embodiment of kawaii (cuteness) carries a dark humor, and any explicit cultural references are intertwined with personal memories."