Yoshitomo Nara at Hayward Gallery London: A Four‑Decade
Retrospective

Who Is Yoshitomo Nara? Background, Style and Influences

Yoshitomo Nara, born 1959 in Hirosaki, Japan, has become a vital voice in contemporary art. Educated in Japan and Germany his imagery is shaped by childhood solitude, Western music via military-radio broadcasts, punk rock, European modernism, and Japanese pop culture.

His signature wide-eyed, childlike characters combine kawaii (cuteness) with subtle menace, often wielding toy-sized weapons or expressing rebellion, defiance, and raw emotion.

The Exhibition Experience: Themes, Works and Atmosphere

Running from 10 June to 31 August 2025, this marks Nara’s first major solo exhibition in a UK public gallery—a sprawling retrospective of over 150 works across paintings, drawings, ceramics, sculptures and installations.

The show is thematically organised, not chronological, reflecting Nara’s belief that his core themes—home, memory, rebellion, solitude—remain consistent across four decades.

Key immersive highlights:

• A reconstructed wooden shed at the start of the show, littered with beer cans, drawings, and vinyl records—a mini sanctuary playing rock’n’roll and folk music—inviting an emotional connection through Nara’s creative world.

• Iconic piece Ships in Girl (1992), defiant and deceptively simple.

• Protest works such as No Nukes (1998) and From the Bomb Shelter (2017), born from the aftermath of the Fukushima disaster.

• Spiritual sculptures like Fountain of Life and Miss Forest, expressing transcendence and connection to nature.

• Transitions in tone—from energetic, rebellious imagery to more subdued and mournful pieces after 2011, reflecting tragedy and loss.

The Significance of Nara’s Art in Today’s World

Nara’s art endures because it is both simple and profound. His seemingly innocent figures serve as vessels for deeply felt experiences; alienation, identity, protest, hope. At a moment when global audiences seek authenticity and resonance, Nara’s unfiltered expressions of childhood, memory, grief, and resistance feel urgent and affecting.

Collecting Yoshitomo Nara: Market Highlights & Prints Available at Lougher

Nara is now Japan’s most expensive living artist. His painting Knife Behind Back fetched HK$195 million (US$25 million) at Sotheby’s in 2019—a record-setting sale. Other high-profile sales include Frog Girl for over US$12 million.

Yet Nara’s appeal extends beyond the high-end market. Lougher Contemporary offers accessible prints and editions by Nara:

• Marching on a Butterbur Leaf (2019), offset lithograph, £1,250.

• 123 Drumming Girls (2020), priced £950.

• Additional works such as In the Cloud (2003) and Days (2014–18) also available, ranging from £8,500 to £34,500.

Lougher enables both emerging and seasoned collectors to access Nara’s work with confidence and service support.

Planning Your Visit

Visit the Hayward Gallery at Southbank Centre, located on London’s South Bank—part of a vibrant cultural quarter with free galleries and riverside views.
Don’t miss:

• Immersing yourself in the sensory experience of the shed installation.

• Bearing witness to the emotional arc from defiant youth to heartfelt protest and grief.

• Browsing the gallery shop for posters, the exhibition catalogue, and limited editions.