奈良美智

Yoshitomo Nara makes paintings, drawings, sculptures, and installations populated by wide-eyed figures—children and animals rendered with deceptive simplicity. Born in Hirosaki in 1959, he left Japan for study at Kunstakademie Düsseldorf in 1988, where he worked under A.R. Penck while supporting himself as a dishwasher. He returned to Japan in 2000 and rapidly gained international recognition through exhibitions including a major 2001 retrospective in Yokohama.