Yoshitomo Nara

Pace Prints is pleased to present an exhibition of woodcuts by Yoshitomo Nara.

A multi-disciplinary artist, known for his painting and his sculpture, Yoshitomo Nara is an iconic figure in contemporary art and popular culture and is beloved for his instantly-recognizable images of children and the imaginary world he constructs for them with his signature blend of Japanese and Western sensibilities.

To translate his images to the print medium, Nara has worked for over twelve years with Pace Prints’ master printer Yasu Shibata in the traditional Japanese ukiyo-e style of woodblock printing. In the more than 30 prints they have created together, Nara and Shibata have added a whole new continent to Nara’s imaginative world and populated it with his strong, yet vulnerable avatars.

This exhibition includes prints spanning the twelve years of collaborations.

Yoshitomo Nara (b. 1959, Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, Japan) live and works in Tochigi, Japan. Nara’s images reference a world inhabited by children and animals, often brandishing weapons, frequently irritated and angry, but also vulnerable and sad. Nara’s iconography exhibits the significant influence of Japanese Manga and Anime, as well as punk rock and pop music. Nara’s work is included in the collections of Aichi Prefectural University of Fine Arts and Music, Japan, The Aomori Prefectural Museum of Art, Japan, The Japan Foundation, Tokyo, Japan, Museum of Art and Design, Nurnberg, Germany, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA, The Tokushima Modern Art Museum, Japan, and Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, Tokyo, Japan.