If you happen to be in the LA area this week, drop what you’re doing and head to Blum + Poe in Culver City right now.
The gallery is currently wrapping up a solo exhibition by one of our all-time favorite pop artists, Yoshitomo Nara. We’ve written up Nara in this space before, and have seen shows of his in the past, but this one not only displays works in new mediums for the artist, it also serves to encompass the history and evolution of Nara as an artist.
Yoshitomo Nara debuted stateside with his first US show at Blum + Poe way back in 1995. This exhibition, which closes Friday, marks his seventh with the gallery and includes new, never before seen paintings; large-scale bronze sculptures (a new venture for the artist); a white fiberglass teacup fountain, fueled by the tears of a stack of cute, sad heads; and a survey of over 200 drawings from Nara spanning his career.
The new paintings especially impressed us. They’re recognizably Nara’s—cute, sad, anime-like with large eyes and large heads, and peppered with oddly disjointed, edgy text—but many, especially the portrait paintings, now show off a detailed, multi-colored dappling reminiscent of refracting light, especially with the hair + eyes.
Again, the show ends Friday, so do everything you can to get there post-haste!
Below, shots from the show, each of which can be clicked on for a larger view.
Photo of Yoshitomo Nara in 2012 at the Yokohama Museum of Art by Satoko Kawasaki for The Japan Times.
