Yoshitomo Nara | |
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Born | Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, Japan | 5 December 1959
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)[1] |
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.[2] 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."[3][4]