The ferocious rate that Yoshitomo Nara’s work vibrates at is an undeniable chord of resounding, rock and roll honesty. It is a body of work which embodies the soft as well as hard, the violent, the loving… it embraces all the facets of culture which have influenced its creator’s fertile imagination. From his first real art show in 1984 to the present day Nara has produced a body of work unlike any other modern artist and has cemented his position as one of the foremost artists of our time. Critic Josh Kun describes Nara’s work as a “punk rock visual articulation of what it feels like not to be seen and what it feels like to be so bored you don’t even care anymore.” This body of work, as large and as voracious as it is, has long needed a worthy overview.
Thankfully this prayer has been very much answered with “Yoshitomo Nara: The Complete Works.” The large, two volume edition documents – in full color – all of the work Nara has exhibited since 1984. By all work, I mean all work: Painting, Collaborative Painting, Billboard Painting, Sculptures, Collaborative Sculptures, Ceramic Sculptures, Photographs, Editions, Collaborative Editions, Drawings on paper, and Collaborative works on paper; they’re all in the two volume set. Browsing through the large, finely printed pages is an artistic odyssey from the amount of beauty encapsulated within. At the back of each volume one can peruse the detailed information about each and every piece as well as read excellent essays and commentary on Nara’s work. This two volume set is, I have to say, one of the absolute best collections of an artists work that I’ve ever come across. – Zach Tutor
