Yoshitomo Nara
Shallow Puddles
On View at Blum & Poe, Tokyo
October 2 — November 14, 2015
Opening Reception: Friday, October 2, 6-8pm
Tokyo, September 21, 2015—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.
In conjunction with this exhibition, Blum & Poe will publish a catalog with an English-Japanese bilingual essay by Shigemi Takahashi, curator at Aomori Museum of Art, who has worked closely with the artist on numerous projects.
Yoshitomo Nara (b. 1959, Hirosaki, Japan) has exhibited extensively around the world. His numerous solo exhibitions include Life is Only One: Yoshitomo Nara, Asia Society, Hong Kong (2015); Blum & Poe, Los Angeles, CA (2014); NARA Yoshitomo: a bit like you and me…, Yokohama Museum of Art, Japan, traveled to Aomori Museum of Art, Japan, Contemporary Art Museum, Kumamoto, Japan (2012); The Crated Rooms in Iceland: Yoshitomo Nara + YNG, Reykjavik Art Museum, Iceland (2009); Yoshitomo Nara + graf, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Newcastle, UK (2008); Yoshitomo Nara + graf, Museum of Contemporary Art, Den Haag, the Netherlands (2007); From the Depth of My Drawer, Hara Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan, traveling exhibition (2004); Nothing Ever Happens, Museum of Contemporary Art, Cleveland, OH, traveling exhibition (2003); and I Don’t Mind, If You Forget Me, Yokohama Museum of Art, Japan, traveling exhibition (2001).
Image credit: Yoshitomo Nara, Shallow Puddles 2004, 2004, Acrylic on cotton, mounted on fiber reinforced plastic, 37 3/8 (diameter) x 6 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Blum & Poe, Los Angeles/New York/Tokyo. © 2015 Yoshitomo Nara
About Blum & Poe
Timothy Blum and Jeffrey Poe founded Blum & Poe in September 1994 with the intent to show international contemporary art in all media. Blum brought over five years of experience in the Japanese art world, and Poe provided a strong awareness of emerging artists in Los Angeles. Together they have represented an increasingly influential roster of contemporary artists, most since the start of their careers, including Sam Durant, Anya Gallaccio, Mark Grotjahn, Friedrich Kunath, Florian Maier-Aichen, Dave Muller, Takashi Murakami, and Yoshitomo Nara. In 2009 Blum & Poe purchased and renovated their current 22,000 square foot complex on La Cienega Boulevard, where they have held museum-caliber surveys, examining the work of the Japanese Mono-ha artists (2012); the Korean Tansaekhwa monochrome painters (2014); and the European postwar movement Cobra (2015). In 2014, Blum & Poe opened galleries in New York and Tokyo to focus on intimately scaled projects, both cutting edge and historical, in tandem with an expansive program of exhibitions, lectures, performances, book-signings, and concerts at its base in Los Angeles.
Locations:
Blum & Poe, Los Angeles, 2727 S La Cienega Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90034
Blum & Poe, New York, 19 East 66th Street, New York, NY 10065
Blum & Poe, Tokyo, 1-14-34 Jingumae, Shibuya, Tokyo, 150-0001
Currently on view:
Blum & Poe, Los Angeles, September 11 – October 24:
Kazunori Hamana, Yuji Ueda, and Otani Workshop, Curated by Takashi Murakami
Kazumi Nakamura
Blum & Poe, New York, September 9 – October 17:
The Avant-Garde Won’t Give Up: Cobra and Its Legacy
Hours:
Los Angeles, Tuesday – Saturday, 10am – 6pm
New York, Tuesday – Saturday, 10am – 6pm
Tokyo, Tuesday – Saturday, 11am – 7pm