What is the Fountain Of Life?

ART, SCULPTURE, YOSHITOMO NARA

Fountain of Life

The piece in the photo above is entitled Fountain of Life and is by far my favourite piece in the entire exhibition, which contains a mix of paintings, drawings and sculpture dating from 1984 to the present day. The exhibition is entitled Greetings from a Place in My Heart.

But coming back to the best piece (in my opinion!) - Fountain of Life - I find it fascinating, clever, eerie, sad, surreal of course, and somehow very pleasing. If you click on the picture you’ll see that I managed (unintentionally, I confess!) to catch a water droplet landing in the tea cup.

Here’s a view of the whole piece:

And here’s a close-up of one of the weeping heads: 

If you’re in London or visit London for tourism purpose you must visit the gallery any time between now and 7 December, do pay this exhibition a visit, although be aware that the gallery is only open Wednesday to Friday, from 10am to 5pm, and on Saturdays and Sundays from 11am to 5pm.

Nara's Works

NARA'S GREAT WORKS 

About Yoshitomo Nara’s sculptures

Yoshitomo Nara’s large fiberglass sculptures are usually glossy white and resemble komainu, mythical lion-like animal statues commonly placed at the entrance to shrines in Japan as guardians. The artist who often uses dogs and children as subjects in his work sometimes combines both, like in his work White Ghost.

About Yoshitomo Nara:

Since the Japanese pop movement in the 1990s, Yoshitomo Nara has received international acclaim with his distinct figurative style. His drawings, paintings and sculptures can be seen in the permanent collections at MOMA, New York, CAC Malaga, Spain, Queensland Art Gallery, Australia and his largest sculpture, a 27’ high concrete dog is permanently installed at the Aomori Art Museum, Japan. His mixture of vulnerability, rebellion and hopefulness within his artworks connects intimately with people worldwide. Nara also shares a deep connection with his fans and is always finding creative ways to interact with the public.

‘Your Dog’, 2017

Yoshitomo Nara – Your Dog, 2017, painted aluminum, 304.8 x 223.5 x 452.1 cm, Bangkok Art Biennale, 2019

‘Aomori-ken (Aomori dog)’

Yoshitomo Nara, Aomori-ken (Aomori dog)

Yoshitomo Nara, 2002, fiberglass, 72 x 51 x 108 in. (182.88 x 129.54 x 274.32 cm)

‘White Ghost’, 2010

Yoshitomo Nara – White Ghost, 2010, Fiberglass, Steel, Pappajohn Sculpture Park, Des Moines, USA

SIDE VIEW:

MORE CLOSER VIEW:

FULL VIEW:

About the Artist

WHO IS YOSHITOMO NARA?

Yoshitomo Nara

Yoshitomo Nara (奈良 美智 Nara Yoshitomo, born 5 December 1959 in Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, Japan) is a Japanese artist. He lives and works in Tokyo, though his artwork has been exhibited worldwide. Nara has had nearly 40 solo exhibitions since 1984.His art work has been housed at the MoMA and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA). His most well-known and repeated subject is a young girl with piercing eyes.

Background and education

Nara received his B.F.A. (1985) and an M.F.A. (1987) from the Aichi Prefectural University of Fine Arts and Music. Between 1988 and 1993, Nara studied at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, in Germany.

Artwork

"Nara first came to the fore of the art world during Japan's Pop art movement in the 1990s. The subject matter of his sculptures and paintings is deceptively simple: most works depict one seemingly innocuous subject (often pastel-hued children and animals drawn with confident, cartoonish lines) with little or no background. But these children, who appear at first to be cute and even vulnerable, sometimes brandish weapons like knives and saws. Their wide eyes often hold accusatory looks that could be sleepy-eyed irritation at being awoken from a nap—or that could be undiluted expressions of hate."^[4]

Nara, however, does not see his weapon-wielding subjects as aggressors. "Look at them, they [the weapons] are so small, like toys. Do you think they could fight with those?" he says. "I don't think so. Rather, I kind of see the children among other, bigger, bad people all around them, who are holding bigger knives..."^[5]Lauded by art critics, Nara's bizarrely intriguing works have gained him a cult following around the world.^[4] Large original paintings regularly sell for millions of dollars.^[6] In June, 2005, Nara's artwork was featured in the album titled "Suspended Animation" by experimental band Fantômas. Other commercial products (including videos, books, magazines, catalogues and monographs) have been dedicated to Nara's work. Recently, a two-volume catalogue raisonné of all his sculptures, paintings, and drawings was completed.^[7]

Light My Fire from 2001

In 2010, the Asia Society showed Yoshitomo Nara: Nobody's Fool the first major New York exhibition of his work.^[8] Other major retrospectives include: "I Don't Mind If You Forget Me", which toured Japan between 2001 and 2002; and "Yoshitomo Nara: Nothing Ever Happens," which traveled the United States from 2003 to 2005.^[7] One of his exhibited works is now part of a window of the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead, England.

External links:

http://www.artrepublic.com/biographies/242-yoshitomo-nara.html

Hey, readers. Welcome to my blog. Keep reading!!!😀

               THE FOUNTAIN OF LIFE

This sculpture is by Yoshitomo Nara,entitled "The Fountain Of Life"

About Yoshitomo Nara

Since the Japanese pop movement in the 1990s, Yoshitomo Nara has received international acclaim with his distinct figurative style. His drawings, paintings and sculptures can be seen in the permanent collections at MOMA, New York, CAC Malaga, Spain, Queensland Art Gallery, Australia and his largest sculpture, a 27’ high concrete dog is permanently installed at the Aomori Art Museum, Japan. His mixture of vulnerability, rebellion and hopefulness within his artworks connects intimately with people worldwide. Nara also shares a deep connection with his fans and is always finding creative ways to interact with the public.

Yoshitomo Nara is a Japanese artist best known for his paintings of children and animals that appear simultaneously sweet and sinister, as seen in his work Do Not Disturb! (1996). A contemporary of Takashi Murakami, Nara has been influenced by popular culture in both Eastern and Western society. His versatile practice explores themes of isolation, rebellion, and spirituality through printmaking, painting, sculpture, ceramics, and installations. “Because of the imagery that I usually work with in my paintings, imagery that some people misinterpret as being manga—like, not a lot of people would see this spiritual side of my work,” the artist said. “The fact is I have never once said that I’ve been influenced by Japanese manga. For a very long time I have created my art from a spiritual point of view. It is filled with religious and philosophical considerations.” Born on December 5, 1959 in Hirosaki, Japan, he studied at the Aichi Prefectural University of Fine Arts and Music, where he earned both his BFA and MFA, and later at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf during the late 1980s. He currently lives and works in Tokyo. The artist’s works are held in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the National Museum of Art in Osaka, and the Rubell Family Collection in Miami, among others.