A Review of Yoshitomo Nara's Wonderful World
- mia hamilton
- Jul 16
- 3 min read
★★★★★
Enter the punky and playful universe created by Yoshitomo Nara at the Hayward Gallery, the largest European exhibition of the Japanese artist.
After walking for an hour in the late June heat and committing to several wrong turns, I finally arrived at the Hayward Gallery in the Southbank Centre in London. Anxiously waiting in air conditioning to be scanned through, I strained my neck over others in line for a peak into the exhibit awaiting my arrival. Featuring more than 150 of his works, ranging from drawing, painting, sculpture to installations and ceramics, the Yoshitomo Nara exhibition was at the top of my list of places to visit during my stay in London.
I’d be lying if I said I’ve been a fan of Nara’s work for years, as it wasn’t until recently that I stumbled upon an image of his and was struck by the eyes of his little characters. A quick search online revealed the famous Japanese artist had an exhibition in the UK during the time I’d be staying there.
Best known for his wide-eyed, childlike motifs, Nara composes figures resembling small children whose expressions lead them to often appear wiser and more cunning than you’ll ever be. With themes such as resistance, rebellion, and the importance of home, his pieces are relatable to anyone staring back into his characters’ oversized eyes. Isolation, also apparent in Nara’s work, largely stems from the time he spent abroad, specifically when attending Düsseldorf Art Academy for twelve years in Germany. Unable to speak German, Nara discusses the influence of this period with the magazine Asymptote, exhibiting how he “found [his] style only after living in solitude,” contributing to his current recognizable visual language.
Entering the expansive gallery, viewers are met with a small wooden shack crafted with makeshift pieces of wood and nails. Created in 2008, the installation, My Drawing Room, is capped by a colorful shingle roof, looking as though it has weathered several storms before landing in the center of the room. A sign on the outside reads playfully, “place like home” in bold capital letters. Feeling similar to a childhood playhouse of Nara’s, the room holds a mess of papers and pens scattered across the floor, as if he had fled the room just before you peeked into the open window.
A backdrop for this little home is a larger, looming wall displaying 60s and 70s records, hand-picked from Nara’s personal collection. To match the array of LPs, which include Bob Dylan, The Velvet Underground, and David Bowie, this music plays throughout the entire gallery, forming a dreamlike state. Often in exhibits the silence and echoing of feet stepping on cold concrete floors can accidentally impose a feeling of loneliness or boredom. Yet “42 of his favorite rock and folk tracks,” reports the Southbank Centre, accompanies the walk through this space and brings it to life.
When the occasional rock song comes on, it parallels his characters; they often wield knives or light something on a fire, angrily they peer back at you, upset they were caught in the act. One child on a duck shaped potty in Harmless Kitty, painted in 1994, stares at viewers, with an expression of annoyance that someone has pulled back the curtain and found them. Another from 1994, Dead Flower shows a young girl holding a devious grin, mirroring the serrated knife she holds in front of a chopped flower, the words “fuck you” painted on her back. His characters from this time are punks, rebellious, and simply direct.
Nara’s time abroad also strengthened his love for Japan, explaining why the 2011 tragedy of Fukushima throws a wrench in his work, bending his characters into something new. They grow softer, with trancelike gazing eyes or shimmering tears, and if they aren’t gazing back into the viewers’ souls, their eyes are closed, leading us to feel guilty for imposing such a moment of serene sadness. One specifically stuck with me, Under the Hazy Sky painted in 2012, displaying a little girl gripping two small sprouts in her hands, staring at them in a blank manner. While this piece may be representative of Nara’s hope for a better future, the girl’s expression leaves an unsettling feeling, as if she knows something we do not.
Leaving Nara’s exhibit, aside from the feeling of never wanting children, I felt at peace. Nara’s world is one of recklessness, pulling from his love of music and literature, but also swaddled in childhood memories running deep through his mind. His most recent figures displaying translucent sparkling tears feel fitting in today’s time. They allow the audience to unexpectedly relate to these small children, to connect with their unspoken emotions of uncertainty and disappointment in a world we thought we could trust.
The Yoshitomo Nara exhibit will only be open until Sunday, August 31st 2025.
All images via YOSHITOMO NARA The Works
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