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Lot Essay
"Seeing the children or animals as my other self, it signified me leaving the familiar confines of Japan and liberating myself from my surroundings." -- Yoshitomo Nara
Yoshitomo Nara's work represents a new wave Pop aesthetic in Japanese art that fundamentally challenges the tradition of figurative painting. His works, which largely feature whimsical depictions of children and animals, reflect his interest in European late-medieval and Renaissance drawing traditions as well as children's books. Both his sculptures and paintings speak to memories and emotions from our childhood that we may have forgotten, but which, as Nara proves, still exist somewhere in the deep recesses of our subconscious. His works allow these memories to resurface, causing us to question perceived boundaries between the established ideas of childhood and adulthood in contemporary society.
Executed in 1997, Dog from your Childhood (Prototype), was a model for what would later become Dog from your Childhood, 1999, which features three large white dogs standing on wooden stilts in an unbroken circle surrounding a ceramic food bowl. Their stance, legs wide apart and heads slightly bowed, draws us in, inviting us to join them in a game of fetch; combined with their bright button noses and vivid green collars, the overall effect is a childlike rendition of "man's best friend." While the dog in the present work appears playful, the scale is both surreal and intimidating. Viewers are drawn in by the warm and inviting smile, yet are reminded of the penetration of their childhood imaginations with unapproachability of traditional fine art and sculpture. Hand-constructed with painted cotton and Styrofoam, the process of the artist is evident in the object, and adds to the “home-made” quality of the present work. The approachability of the material and subject matter is juxtaposed with the grand installation of the work on the wall, out of a child’s reach. Through the combination of the sentimental and nonsensical, the concept evokes the immediacy of children's feelings and exemplifies Nara's ability to create art that is deeply personal to the viewer. The animal is both approachable yet larger than life, as is a child’s imagination.
Nara has repeatedly cited the powerful influence of his childhood upon his artwork. A sensitive youth, the artist grew up relatively isolated in Hirosaki, a small, rural village in the northernmost province in Japan. With two parents who worked long hours, and brothers who were far older, he was often left to his own devices. To pass the time, he would draw and paint, read ehon (picture books) and Japanese Manga, watch animated Walt Disney films, and play with animals in the open fields around his house. He recalls being profoundly lonely. These deeply felt childhood experiences and the desire to reclaim childhood innocence have followed Nara into adulthood, manifesting in his unusual approach to figuration. His strange childlike figures combine personal experience with the rigorous formal artistic training that he received in Japan and at the prestigious Künstakademie in Dusseldorf, where he was taught by Neo-Expressionist painter A.R. Penck.
Dog from your Childhood (Prototype) is a bundle of intriguing paradoxes: readily accessible yet enigmatic, sweet yet menacing, and introspective yet superficial. “Rather than merely offering the work for the viewers to see face-on, I want to trigger their imaginations,” Nara has said of his ethos. “This way, each individual can see my work with his or her own unique, imaginative mind…Maybe an exhibition is not where I present my achievement but an experimental place where visitors find an opportunity to see themselves reflected as though my work were a mirror or a window” (Y. Nara in conversation with M. Chin, “A Conversation With The Artist,” M. Matsui, Yoshitomo Nara: Nobody’s Fool, exh. cat., M. Chui and M. Tezuka (eds.), Asia Society Museum, 2010, p. 179).
Yoshitomo Nara's work represents a new wave Pop aesthetic in Japanese art that fundamentally challenges the tradition of figurative painting. His works, which largely feature whimsical depictions of children and animals, reflect his interest in European late-medieval and Renaissance drawing traditions as well as children's books. Both his sculptures and paintings speak to memories and emotions from our childhood that we may have forgotten, but which, as Nara proves, still exist somewhere in the deep recesses of our subconscious. His works allow these memories to resurface, causing us to question perceived boundaries between the established ideas of childhood and adulthood in contemporary society.
Executed in 1997, Dog from your Childhood (Prototype), was a model for what would later become Dog from your Childhood, 1999, which features three large white dogs standing on wooden stilts in an unbroken circle surrounding a ceramic food bowl. Their stance, legs wide apart and heads slightly bowed, draws us in, inviting us to join them in a game of fetch; combined with their bright button noses and vivid green collars, the overall effect is a childlike rendition of "man's best friend." While the dog in the present work appears playful, the scale is both surreal and intimidating. Viewers are drawn in by the warm and inviting smile, yet are reminded of the penetration of their childhood imaginations with unapproachability of traditional fine art and sculpture. Hand-constructed with painted cotton and Styrofoam, the process of the artist is evident in the object, and adds to the “home-made” quality of the present work. The approachability of the material and subject matter is juxtaposed with the grand installation of the work on the wall, out of a child’s reach. Through the combination of the sentimental and nonsensical, the concept evokes the immediacy of children's feelings and exemplifies Nara's ability to create art that is deeply personal to the viewer. The animal is both approachable yet larger than life, as is a child’s imagination.
Nara has repeatedly cited the powerful influence of his childhood upon his artwork. A sensitive youth, the artist grew up relatively isolated in Hirosaki, a small, rural village in the northernmost province in Japan. With two parents who worked long hours, and brothers who were far older, he was often left to his own devices. To pass the time, he would draw and paint, read ehon (picture books) and Japanese Manga, watch animated Walt Disney films, and play with animals in the open fields around his house. He recalls being profoundly lonely. These deeply felt childhood experiences and the desire to reclaim childhood innocence have followed Nara into adulthood, manifesting in his unusual approach to figuration. His strange childlike figures combine personal experience with the rigorous formal artistic training that he received in Japan and at the prestigious Künstakademie in Dusseldorf, where he was taught by Neo-Expressionist painter A.R. Penck.
Dog from your Childhood (Prototype) is a bundle of intriguing paradoxes: readily accessible yet enigmatic, sweet yet menacing, and introspective yet superficial. “Rather than merely offering the work for the viewers to see face-on, I want to trigger their imaginations,” Nara has said of his ethos. “This way, each individual can see my work with his or her own unique, imaginative mind…Maybe an exhibition is not where I present my achievement but an experimental place where visitors find an opportunity to see themselves reflected as though my work were a mirror or a window” (Y. Nara in conversation with M. Chin, “A Conversation With The Artist,” M. Matsui, Yoshitomo Nara: Nobody’s Fool, exh. cat., M. Chui and M. Tezuka (eds.), Asia Society Museum, 2010, p. 179).