Born in 1959 in Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, Japan. Nara gained an MFA from Aichi Prefectural University of Arts and Music in 1987. Commenced studies at Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, Germany in 1988, and continued to work in Cologne after graduating. Returning to Japan in 2000, he continued to work prolifically and show his works internationally.
Throughout his career, Nara has used photography as a way of capturing his experiences and memories. But it is also a medium that complements his art practices and is a source for his creativity. For example, like in his paintings, Nara explores color; like his drawings, Nara’s photographs aim to be immediate expressions of thoughts, and similar to his sculptures, they bear traces of his fingers that have shaped their forms.
Collectively, the photographs show the respect Nara has for his subjects; he wants to capture the authenticity and sense of innocence that he sees in them. In so doing, we see who he is as a person, how his memories, his art practices, and his personality are all part of his creativity. He applies this attitude to all his subjects including landscape, music, literature, history, and the people he encounters from day to day. They are treated equally because he engages with them emotionally rather than rationally. Similarly, he works in many forms of “photography” including celluloid, digital, and iPhone without privileging one form over another. What matters is that they are records of his creative process and life experiences and there are invitations for his viewers to join him in his journeys
His recent exhibitions include “a bit like you and me...” at Yokohama Museum of Art, Yokohama (2012); traveling to Contemporary Art Museum, Kumamoto and Aomori Museum of Art, Aomori (2012 – 2013), “In The Little Little House in The Blue Woods” at Towada Art Center, Aomori (2012) and “Yoshitomo Nara for better or worse Works: 1987-2017” at Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, Toyota, Aichi (2017). The artist is known for photographic works produced to document his life and travels, and has published the collections “the good, the bad, the average … and unique.” (Little More) and “Yoshitomo Nara Photo Book 2003-2012” (Kodansha). His first exhibition of photographs titled “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” was held at Daikanyama Hillside Plaza, Tokyo in 2017.
