LOS ANGELES — In 1995, the first Yoshitomo Nara exhibit was held in Los Angeles, California, at the Blum and Poe Gallery. Since then, the artist’s work has seen an immense rise in popularity, especially among young adults. Indeed, most university students have seen Nara’s most iconic character, an aggrieved yet cute and charming young girl, at least once on their social media timelines.
Nara was born and raised in northern Japan, where he experienced a rather lonely childhood. He often passed the time by speaking to animals, reading Western comics and fables, and listening to music.
At the age of 28, after earning a fine arts degree at Aichi University of the Arts, Nara traveled to Germany to study under a famous Neo-Expressionist painter. According to Isaure de Viel Castel, a contemporary art specialist at ArtNews, Germany’s language barrier “forced Nara to explore the depths of his subconscious and reflect on the search of his identity.” Although it is possible that Nara would have developed his signature style had he not studied abroad, it was in Germany where this style began to take shape.
Currently, Nara’s work is a reflection of his experiences in both Japan and Europe. He draws on a variety of influences, including Japanese pop culture, underground experimental comics, anime, and American and European 1970s punk rock music.
The iconic children that Nara draws, paints and sculpts often exhibit rebellious and unruly attitudes, revealing the artist’s own non-conformist sentiment. Indeed, Nara has stated in a MyArtBroker article by art agent Jasper Tordoff that: “[My characters are] really all, I think, self-portraits.”
The Girls, also known as the Big Headed or Big Eyed Girls, are the main subjects of Nara’s body of work. All the Girls have cherubic faces, large manga-esque eyes, and are typically depicted using bold lines and bright colors. At first glance, these children appear benevolent and innocent, appealing to people who enjoy the kawaii, or “cute” aesthetic.
However, the Girls’ outward appearance is a facade. Often, the children in Nara’s art are distressed and malevolent, brandishing knives, saws or torches. Some can be seen smoking cigarettes or sprouting nightmarish fangs.
The contrast between the Girls’ cute appearance and turbulent emotional state illustrates the complexity of being a child. Nara portrays childhood not as an idealized time in people’s lives, but as one marked by isolation and the struggle to belong in an intimidating world. In this way, Nara’s art is able to translate feelings of alienation, anxiety, anger, frustration and sadness to audiences of all ages.
Nara’s most famous painting, Knife Behind Back, 2000, which sold for a record-setting $25 million at the 2019 Hong Kong Sotheby’s, features a scowling, short-haired girl in a red outfit. One of her arms is hidden from view, and only the work’s title reveals that she is wielding a knife behind her back, perhaps with vengeful or malicious intent.
The addition of a violent object into a painting which at first glance depicts an innocent child perhaps shows that paranoia and fear constantly lurk behind a cute façade. Nara has also suggested that his children hold weapons as a means of defense against the terrors of contemporary society.
“Look at them, [the weapons] are so small, like toys. Do you think they could fight with those?,” a quote from Nara in a Sotheby’s Catalogue Note about Knife Behind Back (2000) reads, “I don’t think so. Rather, I kind of see the children among other bigger, bad people all around them, who are holding bigger knives…”
One of Nara’s large paintings, Blurry Mind, 2024, is currently on display at BLUM (previously Blum and Poe) Gallery in Los Angeles. The Girl in the painting, who is composed of many layers of vibrant colors, seems to look at the viewer and past them at the same time. A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to see Blurry Mind (2024) in person and was struck by how different the painting is in comparison to Nara’s earlier works.
The subject of Blurry Mind (2024) seems to exhibit a sense of self-reflection and awareness that suggests she is a grown-up rather than a child. However, as writer and artist Rosie Lesso suggests in The Collector, beneath this calm demeanor still exists “an inquisitive anxiety…, as if she is still trying to figure out her place in the world.”
Especially in today’s fragmented society, the complex duality of Yoshitomo Nara’s art continues to resonate with audiences on a deep emotional level. His children, whose cute, charming demeanor conceals their universal anxiety and inner turmoil, are a shockingly accurate encapsulation of the human experience.
