Yoshitomo Nara: Shallow Puddles

Tokyo, October 2 – November 14, 2015
Opening Reception: Friday, October 2, 6 – 8pm

Blum & Poe is pleased to present a solo exhibition by Yoshitomo Nara titled Shallow Puddles. This will be the artist’s eighth solo show with the gallery and his first at the Tokyo space, and will present paintings from 2004 and 2006.

Central to this exhibition is a total of 12 paintings executed on shallow circular dishes, covered with small square patches of canvas. Mounted on walls, these dishes seemingly create portals to a world inundated with water. Depicted on each is a solitary figure that, like those in many of the artist’s iconic paintings, holds the viewer’s gaze with its large, full eyes, some even with averted eyes. Ground and figure are the main components of each work, yet the artist’s painterly execution calls attention to his manipulation of color, form, and composition to create an image that transcends traditional portraiture. With selections of the series previously exhibited in Osaka (graf media gm, 2004) and Aomori (Yoshii Brick Brewhouse, 2006), Nara has personally selected Blum & Poe’s gallery space for the debut presentation of the series in Tokyo and as a collective whole. Read full press release here.