I first learned about Yoshitomo Nara when I visited the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo in 2024. Yes, I know. I was late. In my defense though, I’m always the last to board the train.
Nara was born in Japan in 1959. He grew up in a rural town in Aomori prefecture (northern Japan) and is the last of three children. His siblings, however, are quite a bit older than he and so he grew up similar to that of an only child. Both his parents worked, so often, he was alone.
In this period of his life, Nara grew fond of American pop culture – music, cartoons and books. Punk music and Neo-expressionism influenced him and what would eventually become his signature style.
He’s well known for his Angry Girls paintings, these young girls with extra large heads and huge eyes that stare at the viewer with boldness— a daring — that walks a fine line between comical and frightening. Nara works in the Superflat style – a term coined by Takashi Murakami, another artist who works in this movement.
These girls are cute, but they also look like they’d cut you if you looked at them wrong. They’re rebellious (think ‘punk rock’) not just in their stances, but they smoke and carry weapons. One holds a red tipped paintbrush that you know for sure didn’t just paint a pretty picture. Some have bandages over their eyes, and one little girl has tiny fangs for teeth. .
In 1988, Nara moved to Dusseldorf, Germany for an apprenticeship and stayed there until 1993. He then moved to Cologne. The weather and his inability to speak German well continued to isolate him. This harked back to his childhood in northern Japan. According to Nara in an interview with László Rupp in 2025, this isolation is perhaps one of the reasons he sought to express himself pictorially.
It’s too simplistic to say that Nara’s work is influenced by pop culture. Loneliness and isolation springing from his childhood and his time in Germany suffuse his work.
His Superflat style coupled with his iconic Angry Girls, Nara has helped move Japanese contemporary art into the 21st century.
Do I like his work?
I really do.
A feeling of discomfort descends whenever I see one of his pieces. As an artist myself, that’s a definite win!
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They look like their biggest gripe in this life is people constantly telling them how cute they are whilst they grind their teeth menacingly !
I think that a lot of kids who are loners get bullied in school.
Perhaps this is his way of countering that. Channeling his inner punk kid, the inner rebel.
it’s funny how “flat” has very different meanings in music and in images…