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 Center, 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 Contemporary 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).

Selected Works

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