Acrylic on canvas

51×40 cm. 20 1/8×15 3/4 in

Signed in Chinese and English, dedicated in Italian, dated in number with artist’s seal on bottom right
PROVENANCE
Opera Gallery, Hong Kong
Important Private Collection, Asia

Inner
Self-Portrait
The Bandage Boy of Yoshitomo Nara
It’s not just the knowledge, but also the realistic feeling from personal experience, that became my motto through which I comprehend the reality afterwards.
——Yoshitomo Nara
As a representative Japanese contemporary artist, Nara’s work yields unusually brilliant results within the international art world, with its unique style, natural simplicity, and singular charm. The pureness of color and the freshness of style in his painting go directly to the viewer’s heart. The figures carrying the sense of loneliness and isolation depict grotesque looking imageries of a child or animal； and the adorable-yet-sinister childlike characters with big heads placed in simplified backgrounds particularly click with the viewers. Comic lines and planar colors shape Nara’s artistic characteristics, which represent Japanese New Pop and stir up an undercurrent of self-examination on human nature, within contemporary culture field where the cartoon is sweeping over the global consumer market.
The Conversation with Self
Yoshitomo Nara is the third and youngest son of an average working family in Aomori, Japan, with his parents busing at work all year round and alienated from their children. Moreover, due to the age gap with two elder brothers, Nara spent most of his childhood on his own. The loneliness of childhood nurtured his reserved personality and the habit of independent thinking, leaving a far-reaching impact on his depicting of the seemingly lonely child and the alienated artistic style.
In 1987, Nara received his M.F.A. from the Aichi Prefectural University of Fine Arts and Music. In the same year, he had a trip to Germany to visit Documenta and local art schools. The distinctive expression of his European peers immensely vibrated Nara’s concept of art, impelling him to go further studying at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf in Germany. In the early days, the deep loneliness resulted from language barriers and cultural gap evoked his early memory of drawing pictures alone at home. “I do not speak too much, but I think a lot. Just like in my childhood, I can not express my feelings with words.” In this remote country, Nara began a journey of searching his childhood. The feeling of drifting in a foreign country drove him further towards the reflection of inner self. In this way, reminiscence became the first inspiration of Nara’s art creation. “My painting makes up the pity that I can not communicate freely in German, reminding those around me of my existence.” Nara began to sketch child images in a new expressionist way, taking the characters as the incarnation of himself. He constantly consoles himself with art and expresses the unspeakable isolation and loneliness in his heart. After the mid-1990s, Nara gradually developed his classic composition and artistic style. The flattened space and unique facial expressions of the children together constitute the typical “Nara symbol”.
The Innocent and Rebellious Spirit
1995 is the year when his work This Is How It Feels When Your Word Means Nothing at All was created, a major turning point in Nara’s artistic career. In that year, he graduated from the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. Not only did he rent a studio in Köln and started an independent career, he also held a major solo exhibition “In the Deepest Puddle” at SCAI THE BATHHOUSE, Tokyo, establishing his prominent place in Japanese art field. Hereafter, Nara started to shine out with great brilliance on international art stage. This work is a wonderful masterpiece from the late period of his studying in Germany during which his personal art style was established. Moreover, the imagery of a boy with eyes closing became the prototype of one of his most popular and representative works The Little Pilgrims （Night Walking）, also an important testimony to the transition from his early “evil dolls” to “night walking dolls”.
In the light yellow-green background, Nara’s typical child figure with a large head, tilted cheeks and pursing lips is portrayed in the center of the image, innocuous yet sinister. The lonely and isolated childhood memory became the content of Nara’s art expression, while European painting tradition to which he was exposed to during this period influenced his composition technique. Artworks from late Medieval Ages and early Renaissance particularly fascinated him. For instance, from the beauty concept presented by 15-century rigid profile portrait which largely shocked and inspired him, Nara developed his typical composition style with mono-color background and figures placed sideways. Just like portrait paintings represented beauty in the Medieval Ages, the recurrent and non-real child image defines the ideal beauty in Nara’s mind, innocent yet rebellious.
The Double Meaning of Bandage
In the work, the boy’s body and head are wrapped layer upon layer. The red pursing lips outside the bandage, the closing eyes outlined by brown arcs in the center and the erect brown hair on the upper right correspond with each other. Through a few lines, the boy’s stubborn and silent face is vividly portrayed. Furthermore, the clear contour lines and flattened light colors blend together comic characteristics and the casualness of graffiti art, setting off the immaturity on the boy’s face. The artist combines layering technique from traditional Japanese painting, Nihonga, and modern medium such as acrylic and canvas to emphasize the variation of colors, creating a simple and sincere pictorial atmosphere. However, the unconventional and concise composition confronts the viewers with its silent strength. The recurrent bandage element depicts the loneliness and anger of a child after being wounded, also implies the trauma of individuals caused by environment and social system. The pale bandage all over the boy’s body contrasts with his innocent expression. As a connection of inner and outside world, bandage heals the external wounds as well as spiritual ones. As the visual medium, bandage evokes the viewer’s sympathy and emotional resonance.
At the bottom of the picture, the English text WHAT’S WRONG WITH MUM written in red pigment implicitly points out the theme of the painting. By questioning the MUM which refers to the world from the boy’s side, the artist expresses his doubt about the chaos all around the world. The conflict between the child and his MUM refers not only to the complexity of the society but also to the confusion that everyone once had towards the adult’s world. In coalition with the title, it further illustrates the resistance consciousness against the social system and the isolated emotions of individuals which the artist wants to express behind the painting. After finishing his study in Germany, Nara went straight back to hometown to focus on painting, for he was not adapted the rush of urban life in Tokyo. He kept himself out of business affairs, even refused the offer of teaching in Tokyo University of the Arts twice. All his lifelong, Nara keeps being forthright and sincere, never anxiously urging himself for new works. He tries to keep a distance from outside world to protect the child living in his inner world. The boy in his painting is the self-portrait of himself. The bandage wrapping up the boy is the weapon through which the artist resists external influence, also the cure for wounded souls.
In 2001, Nara’s solo exhibition opened in Yokohama Museum of Art. Around 100, 000 people visited the show, breaking attendance record among contemporary Japanese museums. It has drawn broad attention from leading museums around the world and traveled worldwide. Meanwhile, near 10 of his works were collected by the Museum of Modern Art in New York in the early 20th century. His art reflects the common feelings and deep desires of human beings, exceeding the national boundaries. These innocent and forthright children impress the viewers from the first sight. The concise lines and simple colors lead us to a journey of childhood memories and touch the innermost depths of our hearts while questioning the meaning of life. The painting of Yoshitomo Nara is a key to the memory, a mirror reflecting ourselves. It gives us the strength to carry on and move forward, also brings the smile to our faces.

Price estimate:
HKD: 2, 500, 000 - 3, 500, 000
USD: 320, 500 - 448, 700

Auction Result:
HKD: 5,310,000