I finally made it to the Yoshitomo Nara exhibition at the Hayward Gallery yesterday (before it closes in two days), and it inspired me to dedicate this week’s letter to him for several reasons:
I was also hesitant regarding the exhibition. Unfortunately I did not experience the same shift. While some of the drawings excited me, the very simple combination of liking European traditional painting and creating little girls in a revisited manga graphic aesthetic felt repetitive, very, very repetitive, and just “ok”. I was sure that there would be a story behind the little girl and I told myself that he had lost a twin - apparently his little sister passed away before he was born. Nevertheless, and although I empathize with loss and hatred of war, it’s not enough for me to engage with the work as a whole. The sculpture illustrated here of the teacup could have been a drawing. There was no impact on terms of presence in the space for me. I found the whole thing empty. Lots of people in Japan are obsessed with rock and roll, so what does that provide to the show? We can see it in the drawings, some of them really sensational. I see a whole art market factory behind the art of a nerdy music fan with a great heart - from what is told, I have no clue personally. And a message vague enough and tragic enough for everyone to get behind.
Thanks for sharing your view! I see some good points you are making , it's true that there is the 'art market factory' element - it's essentially the sucess formula I was talking about. The questions is whether it's a good thing . I guess it depends on what do we consiser 'good' and 'sucessful' art. It's an interesting topic
Yes, you make a compelling argument. I see European / Western masterpiece references weaved into the work as a powerful element of that “recipe”: you have two examples in London currently with Nara and Kgnwarray. Then there is the ability to mass produce in order for big galleries to sell all over the world (thus the repetitive nature of the work). The wink wink to valid pop culture such as rock and roll mixed with a recognizable non-western reference of the manga is also a great game of “spot the reference” as long as it’s not researched nor critiqued. Then the victimization without critique: which you call emotional depth, I presume. Notions of home, bomb trauma, the purity of kids doubled with a certain impenetrable cruelty. Tears. I really love an earnest and simple message such as in Yoko Ono’s work but here the manipulation of the market is rather visible-there is nothing to offend any potential Big Collector. That said the drawings made it worthwhile to go. Some of them bear a far lighter and mordant quality: but they can’t be sold for millions right away. So in the equation there is also the notion of scale: big paintings, big series, outdoor sculptures. (When collectors buy an artwork of an artist they like, they often ask if there are outdoor pieces, it’s a sort of nervous tic! :-)) ).
I was also hesitant regarding the exhibition. Unfortunately I did not experience the same shift. While some of the drawings excited me, the very simple combination of liking European traditional painting and creating little girls in a revisited manga graphic aesthetic felt repetitive, very, very repetitive, and just “ok”. I was sure that there would be a story behind the little girl and I told myself that he had lost a twin - apparently his little sister passed away before he was born. Nevertheless, and although I empathize with loss and hatred of war, it’s not enough for me to engage with the work as a whole. The sculpture illustrated here of the teacup could have been a drawing. There was no impact on terms of presence in the space for me. I found the whole thing empty. Lots of people in Japan are obsessed with rock and roll, so what does that provide to the show? We can see it in the drawings, some of them really sensational. I see a whole art market factory behind the art of a nerdy music fan with a great heart - from what is told, I have no clue personally. And a message vague enough and tragic enough for everyone to get behind.
Thanks for sharing your view! I see some good points you are making , it's true that there is the 'art market factory' element - it's essentially the sucess formula I was talking about. The questions is whether it's a good thing . I guess it depends on what do we consiser 'good' and 'sucessful' art. It's an interesting topic
Yes, you make a compelling argument. I see European / Western masterpiece references weaved into the work as a powerful element of that “recipe”: you have two examples in London currently with Nara and Kgnwarray. Then there is the ability to mass produce in order for big galleries to sell all over the world (thus the repetitive nature of the work). The wink wink to valid pop culture such as rock and roll mixed with a recognizable non-western reference of the manga is also a great game of “spot the reference” as long as it’s not researched nor critiqued. Then the victimization without critique: which you call emotional depth, I presume. Notions of home, bomb trauma, the purity of kids doubled with a certain impenetrable cruelty. Tears. I really love an earnest and simple message such as in Yoko Ono’s work but here the manipulation of the market is rather visible-there is nothing to offend any potential Big Collector. That said the drawings made it worthwhile to go. Some of them bear a far lighter and mordant quality: but they can’t be sold for millions right away. So in the equation there is also the notion of scale: big paintings, big series, outdoor sculptures. (When collectors buy an artwork of an artist they like, they often ask if there are outdoor pieces, it’s a sort of nervous tic! :-)) ).