Yoshitomo Nara (b. 1959)

Known for his surly confluence of punk aesthetics and the Japanese concept of kawaii (the shy, charming cuteness embodied by characters like Hello Kitty and the melancholy egg Gudetama), Nara’s subjects exist in a transitional space between the innocence of youth and the harsh reality of adulthood. Works like the present lot are prime examples of the artist’s mature style, and are a “symbolic representation of the dominant feelings of Japanese youth in the late 1990s and early 2000s, characterised by a sense of uncertainty about the future, vulnerability, and a yearning for the innocence preserved in the inner child” (M. Matsui, “Art for Myself and Others: Yoshitomo Nara's Popular Imagination,” M. Chiu et al. (eds.), Yoshitomo Nara: Nobody's Fool, New York, 2010, p. 13). By striving toward a more edgy take on the melding of popular culture with traditional Japanese art, Nara continues to push through overly bombastic rhetoric in favor of works that invite careful introspection infused with humor and unconventional subjects.