The girl
A young girl sketched in basic, picture-book style stands upon a leaf, holding a pair of batons. The initial sweetness of the figure – who might otherwise fulfil all the requirements of kawaii, the Japanese notion of cuteness – is tempered by the anger that flashes across her face.
Flora
Nara’s work is somewhat autobiographical, and the presence of the giant leaf can be traced back to his difficult childhood as a latchkey kid in the rural north of Japan. “I was so lonely and only surrounded by apple trees,” he has stated. “So I talked to the trees, the dog and the pigs.”
Superflat
The superflat movement is attributed to both Nara and Takashi Murakami, another celebrated Japanese artist. Murakami satirises the shallowness of pop culture, while Nara goes further by also profiling the sense of individual alienation it generates.
The legacy
Post-Fukushima, there’s been a more outwardly polemical edge to Japan’s art scene. Nonetheless, Nara’s introspective nihilism still looms large. This solo show will be accompanied by a group show of younger Japanese artists, whose work may link the two movements.
