Home » Entertainment » Artist Yoshitomo Nara personally comes to Taiwan, the most healing special exhibition in 2021! 9 little secrets of Yoshitomo Nara you must know | Marie Claire

Artist Yoshitomo Nara personally comes to Taiwan, the most healing special exhibition in 2021! 9 little secrets of Yoshitomo Nara you must know | Marie Claire

The master Yoshitomo Nara, who is most sought after by art collectors and art fans, will hold a special exhibition at the Guandu Art Museum in Taipei. Before the exhibition opens, we will collect 9 stories about him for you to explore the source of inspiration and creative process of this low-key artist.

From March 12, 2021, Yoshitomo Nara (1952-) will hold a special exhibition in Taiwan and set up the exhibition in person. The news has been on the headlines of the media many times. The Guandu Art Museum in Taipei will later move to Tainan Municipal Art Museum and Gaomei Hall, so that audiences in the south can enjoy the master’s style without having to travel around.

The well-loved Yoshitomo Nara is as famous as the first-line Japanese artists such as Takashi Murakami and Yayoi Kusama. He is not only an indicator of contemporary art, but his creations often appear in every corner of our lives. In his paintings, you will first see a kind of innocence and cuteness that are easy to get close to, but then you will find that the eyes and expressions of the protagonist (child) in the painting contain evil, cunning or sadness that can only appear in the adult world. .

The first stop of this exhibition will be at the Beiyi Daguandu Art Museum. After ten months of communication between the Cultural Association and Japan, the first exhibition was finally made. The content will include the new work “Miss Moonlight” by Yoshitomo Nara at Tokyo Mori Art Museum last summer. Not only that, we can also see the “Stars Exhibition: Contemporary Art Stars, From Japan to the World” in last year’s exhibition. In the works, I understand Yoshitomo Nara’s creative context and changes, and the artist himself has arrived in Taiwan on February 14 for isolation.

On the eve of the opening of the exhibition, “Beautiful Lady” sorted out 9 secrets about Nara Yoshitomo, and took you step by step to reveal the interesting stories that belong to him.

Yoshitomo Nara Secret 1——The origin of the big-eyed child

In the early days, Yoshitomo Nara’s works were mainly illustrations, which would form the familiar appearance of children. In fact, he was inspired by a little girl with big eyes and a high forehead when he went to Hong Kong in the 1980s. Everyone always thinks that the protagonist in the painting is a girl, but in fact, Nara Yoshitomo did not set gender, so it is more appropriate to describe it as neutral.

Because the style of painting tends to be cartoonish and childlike, Yoshitomo Nara often compares with another master Keith Haring, and Yoshitomo Nara is good at using the Japanese “kawaii” culture, which makes it easy for us to feel kind to the characters in the painting.

Yoshitomo NaraSecret 2——Japan’s most expensive artist

In 2019, Yoshitomo Nara became the focus of attention at the auction venue, breaking the record twice in six hours. Among them, his huge creation “Knife Hidden Behind” (234 x 208 cm) is the largest canvas by Yoshitomo Nara in the history of the auction house. It was sold at Sotheby’s for a sky-high NT$760 million, surpassing Kusama in one fell swoop. Yayoi rose to become the most expensive artist in Japan. The little girl in the painting has a gloomy expression, which makes people suspect that she is hiding a lethal knife behind her cute appearance.

Yoshitomo NaraSecret 3——Super Flat Art Group

“Superflat” is a Japanese avant-garde art group. They often use bright colors, patterns and Japanese cartoon symbols to examine the over-consumption culture of Japanese youth. Approximately in 2001, Yoshitomo Nara joined this distinctive art group, among which members have a lot of backgrounds, including Takashi Murakami, who is well-known in the art and fashion circles, and he is also a member.

Yoshitomo NaraSecret 4-byTradition to Punk

It may be hard for you to imagine that many of Nara’s works are influenced by the strong rhythm of punk music, which makes his paintings contain the spirit of rebellion and resistance. Another distinctive feature is that Yoshitomo Nara’s works follow the image of the traditional Japanese character Otafuku. In traditional culture, Otafuku means joy. The plump cheeks and cheerful eyes are the standard appearance of Otafuku. Yoshitomo Nara transformed her into a naughty child. This change brought by Yoshitomo Nara also set off Japan’s influence on traditional culture. Transformation and redefinition.

Yoshitomo NaraSecret 5——A lonely conversation living in Germany

In previous interviews, Yoshitomo Nara mentioned, “I went to Germany when I was 28 and chose Germany by accident. For whatever reason, I ended up living in Germany for 12 years. I became truly “alone” there. Awakening my lonely childhood memories. The cold and gloom of this city (Düsseldorf) is just like my hometown (Aomori), and the atmosphere there strengthens my barrier from the outside world.” In the influence of powerful loneliness Next, at that time, Yoshitomo Nara’s body, at the same time, carried the childhood of 7 and 8 years old and the young self of 28 years old at the time, which made a huge change in Nara’s paintings.

Yoshitomo NaraSecret 6——Behind the scenes: Koyama Tomio Gallery

When it comes to the success of Nara Yoshitomo, it is impossible to ignore his behind-the-scenes man-Tomio Koyama. After graduating from Tokyo University of the Arts, Tomio Koyama worked in different galleries and founded his own gallery in 1996. Not only did he have precise vision and profound artistic learning, he also collaborated with the unfamous Yoshitomo Nara and Takashi Murakami to help them enter the world stage. Today’s Tomio Koyama Gallery is also one of the most influential galleries in Japan.

Yoshitomo NaraSecret 7——311big earthquake

After the 311 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, the hurt Yoshitomo Nara was unable to continue working for a while. He said in a 2016 interview, “Compared with the artists affected by the earthquake, the biggest difference between me is that I am Growing up in Aomori, it is located on the border of Fukushima.” Yoshitomo Nara has visited the disaster area many times and returned to his alma mater Aichi University of the Arts to live in, hoping to rekindle his painting inspiration. “I think everyone in Japan has experienced the same emotions: I’m very depressed, and I can’t even stand what I’m doing. It’s so meaningless and useless. After all, in such extreme situations, no one needs art.” Yoshitomo Nara was not defeated. He told himself to continue to be an artist, prepare for the future, and even create works for people in need after his life was restored. Nara encouraged himself in this way at the time.

Yoshitomo NaraSecret 8——Pursue equality and refuse to be classified

The famous American art critic Roberta Smith once described Yoshitomo Nara as the artist who values ​​”equality” the most since Keith Haring. In an interview in 2015, Yoshitomo Nara said, “People may have similar personalities because they grew up in cities. , But you can’t judge them by the same standard.”

Nara Yoshitomo’s paintings of children with big eyes and big heads are his most popular and important works, but in fact, Yoshitomo Nara has always tried to use different media, such as sculpture, animation and animation, and he is used to keeping a low profile about his private life; he It is also said that using social media will interfere with his pure pursuit of art. This is also a very special and precious place for Nara Yoshitomo in contemporary society.

Yoshitomo NaraSecret 9——The Queen of LiteratureBanana Yoshimoto

Japanese writer Banana Yoshimoto, who became famous for her book “The Kitchen”, has cooperated with Yoshitomo Nara many times since 1999, and made Nara Yoshitomo’s pictures the cover of her novels. For example, Taiwan readers are also very familiar with “Relentless/Doom”, “Argentine Mother-in-law” and “Daisy Life”. We can all see the cross-border collaboration of these two Japanese literary and artistic circles. Regrettably, Banana Yoshimoto said frankly when facing an interview, “We probably won’t cooperate anymore…. Our relationship is still very good, but the way we want to go is already separated.” Because of the paintings of Yoshitomo Nara at the time. It has transformed into a more personal style and is moving towards larger paintings.

《Yoshitomo Nara Special Exhibition》Exhibition Information

・Exhibition time: March 12 to June 20, 2021

・Venue: 2F, Guandu Art Museum, Taipei University of the Arts (https://reurl.cc/E24ApK

・In July and November 2021, this exhibition will be moved to Kaohsiung Museum of Art and Tainan Museum of Art

FB:https://reurl.cc/3N7z5l

The official website of the Chinese Culture Association:https://reurl.cc/o9rjxq

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