Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Yoshitomo Nara



If you were watching Stage 18 of the recent Tour de France you likely noticed a wide eyed little girl riding along with Lance Armstrong.  His time trial bike was designed by Japanese pop artist Yoshitomo Nara, and featured one of Nara's signature manga inspired tots.

His name may not be familiar, but his work is instantly recognizable.  

Yoshitomo Nara's paintings and sculpture of stylized cartoon children and animals evoke a range of memories from childhood, "both sad and fantastic."  [His] work is influenced by Japanese comic books (manga) but he is unique in the contemporary art scene here for bedeviling his typically cute and vulnerable figures with a horror like image ... Nara's work really instills the viewer with a juxtaposition of the innocence of children and the evil nature of humanity, or the fall from grace.  -- via

Enjoy more examples of his work at the Stephen Friedman Gallery and Zink Galerie sites.

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