1997
Fountain Pen and Colored Pencil on Paper
29.5 x 21 cm
Signed Na’ in Japanese and dated 1997
Estimate TWD 2,900,000-3,800,000
USD 103,600-135,700
HKD 0-0
Hammer Price TWD 3,120,000
USD 112,311
HKD 891,429
Provenance：Poly Hong Kong Auction, 6th October, 2019, Lot 106 Acquired from the above by the present owner
Illustrated："Yoshitomo Nara: The Complete Works 1984-2010," Bijutsu Shuppan-Sha Co., LTD, Tokyo Japan, 2011, page113
Exhibition：
Exposition：
The reason why Yoshitomo Nara’s work deeply attracted me is not because I am a lover of art, but because the works have an impression and appeal that penetrates the hearts of ordinary people. They are not abstract or concrete. The “power of ideas” is the most important” --Tomio Koyama
The evil eyes and gloomy expressions of a cute and innocent child protagonist is now Yoshitomo Nara’s unique and well-loved artistic symbol. Born in 1959, Nara was raised in post-World War II Japan, thus he was profoundly influenced by the intensified globalization and lively cultural atmosphere. During this time, Japan experienced a massive influx of Western pop culture which has continued to present day. Japanese culture has also expended outwards, creating various artistic phenomena due to the effects of globalization, by the 90s Japanese Contemporary Art has an irreplaceable place in the world. During his childhood and teenage years, Nara was extremely isolated, in the 60s he became consumed by popular culture such as American rock bands and anti-war views, which later became inspirations for his art.
He graduated from the Aichi Prefectural University of Fine Art and Music in 1987, and later studied at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf also known as the German State Academy of Arts for six years before moving to Cologne as a professional artist and teacher. During the 20 years he was in Germany, he visited the birthplace of Modernism, and felt the pulse of Contemporary Art, and even witnessed the development of these thoughts and ideology. In result, despite his academic training in Japan, influences of German Expressionist style can also be found in his work.
Nara set up a studio in Cologne in 1994, he sets out to establish himself as a professional artist, a year later, he received an Award for Artist from Nagoya City. In the same year he, he held his major solo show titled “In the Deepest Puddle” at SCAI the Bathhouse in Tokyo. In 1998 he accepted an invitation to serve as Guest Professor for a graduate course in painting at the University of California, Los Angeles. Nara has been featured in numerous other group and solo exhibitions in Asia, Europe, and the United States since. In 2010, he became the first Japanese artist to be awarded by the International Center in New York.
In the work Untitled, created in 1997, we see a girl with blonde hair on the bottom left corner of the page. Although her eyes are closed, we can still catch a glimpse of rebellion from her elongated and slanted eyes. Her mouth is slightly opened as if she is speaking in monologue. The right side of the page is taken up by English words written by the artist himself. The passage talks about rebellion, music and rock and roll. ROCK is a reappearing subject in his work. During an interview, when Nara was asked what the words in his drawings meant, he replied, “I guess they condense and represent all the images I conceive of. When I write ‘rock’ in my work, I’m speaking to people who might share a part of the image that I have around the word ‘rock.’ I suppose people in my generation sometimes imagine those who love the same kind of rock music I love are the ones with whom I want to share my imagination underlying that world. It depends. A word is kind of a key to a door which opens and lead to my world of imagination. I know it reaches some people.”
You and me, we’re kind of social misfits
won’t grow up just wanna rock and roll
suit and tie ain’t what gets me high
but my aim is true and clear
I can still look in the mirror
I don’t wanna, she don’t wanna,
we don't wanna, turn it down
Loud and fast forward
That’s the way I like it
Don’t tell em what to do
Kind of sucks
Never having money,
But kinda cool to choose a dream
When I’m down I just play guitar real loud
Blast the Pistols &Ramones
Drive the neighbors from their homes!!