June 16, 2025 |
Yoshitomo Nara has always had a rebellious spirit. Celebrated for his emotionally provoking portraits of big-eyed, child-like figures and animals with an awkward yet assertive demeanour, the acclaimed artist’s work is fuelled by his personal experiences and a hunger to make sense of the world around him. Now, laying claim to more than 150 works from the last four decades, a self-titled Yoshitomo Nara retrospective is opening at Southbank Centre’s Hayward Gallery, offering an up-close look at the artist’s eye-opening visual universe until August 31.
As you enter, you’ll likely find yourself struck by that ‘all-eyes-on-me’ type feeling we all know too well; but for once, all eyes actually will be on you. Expect to be met face-to-face with Nara’s wide-eyed, standoffish characters, some parading in animal costumes, others devilishly watching a house set alight. There is something oddly familiar about them, a sort of relatability to their rebellious demeanours – an unmistakable decision made by Nara, who says his intention is to push people to “see their emotions reflected and access their own similar feelings when looking at the images”.
Structured thematically, the retrospective builds on the success of Nara’s previous exhibition at the Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden. Spanning three rooms, Nara’s paintings, drawings, sculptures and installations are brought to life. A piece immediately demanding attention is the My Drawing Room (2008) installation, the painted, wooden structure reimagining Nara’s studio. Another unapologetically chaotic room showcases a collection of drawings sprawled out on the floor amongst an amalgamation of ephemera, CDs and collectables from vintage Americana shops which create a sort of portal into the hidden parts of Nara’s brain.
Growing up in the countryside of Japan’s Hirosaki, where record sleeves and comic books were his only form of exposure to the arts, Nara found his footing during his time spent studying at Kunstakademie, Düsseldorf. In a foreign land, where language barriers and a sense of alienation shaped his experience, Nara tapped into his difference to find alternative ways to express himself. “The language gap encouraged me to use my imagination,” Nara says. “I reconnected with that little boy version of myself and was able to bridge that shared experience into my work, creating a style that was very different to what I was making before and am recognised for today.”
It was his The Girl with the Knife in Her Hand (1991) painting that flicked the switch for Nara, marking the beginning of his artistic evolution. Nara’s driving force transformed from a primal need to communicate, to the necessity of shedding light on the social and cultural issues that penetrate the world around him.
With works like From the Bomb Shelter (2017) depicting a hesitant child emerging from an underground bunker, and later paintings like Midnight Tears (2023) eliciting feelings of uncertainty through a child’s eyes brimming with tears, the viewer is challenged to hold their gaze, like an intense staring contest with a deeper emotional weight.
The exhibition reflects the political and social commentary within Nara’s work, with disasters such as the Tōhoku earthquake, tsunami and Fukushima Daiichi power plant failure driving him to respond to the widespread feeling of grief through his artwork. From growing up during the Vietnam War, Nara taps into his hippie roots with a strong emphasis on community through music saying he, “felt that the music scene had the power to inspire change,” and “visual art also has this power.”
It is that sense of community and relatability that becomes the focal point in Nara’s work. “My work doesn’t rely on complex theory for people to instinctively understand it,” he says, “and that ability to connect is important to me.”
Photography courtesy of Hayward Gallery. ‘Yoshitomo Nara’ is on view at Hayward Gallery until August 31, 2025. Get your tickets here.
