This summer, the Hayward Gallery opens its doors to the deeply emotive and unmistakable world of Yoshitomo Nara. From 10 June to 31 August 2025, the acclaimed Japanese artist presents his first major UK solo exhibition — a rare opportunity for London audiences to step inside a practice that has spanned four decades, capturing global attention with its blend of innocence, anger, and quiet rebellion.
A Global Icon of Contemporary Art
Yoshitomo Nara is one of the most influential figures in contemporary art today. Born in Hirosaki, Japan, and raised in the remote Tōhoku region, Nara first began drawing while listening to the Far East Network (FEN). This American military radio service introduced him to antiwar folk songs and blues during the Vietnam War. These sounds and sentiments would become a lasting thread through his work.
While Nara is perhaps best known for his large-eyed, youthful figures staring boldly (or blankly) back at us, there is far more beneath the surface than a simple homage to kawaii culture. These characters, often mistaken for cute, radiate defiance, vulnerability, and emotional complexity. As both symbols and mirrors of the artist’s interior life, they form the heart of his singular aesthetic.
Themes and Techniques: A Multilayered Practice
Though primarily a painter, Nara’s artistic range extends across sculpture, collage, drawing, and installation. His work explores enduring themes of solitude, resistance, home, and the delicate balance between fragility and strength. Each image — whether a wistful child, a snarling dog, or a dreamlike landscape — evokes the contradictions of human emotion.
Organised thematically, the Hayward exhibition showcases the depth and breadth of Nara’s output. Works inspired by pivotal life moments sit alongside politically charged pieces and introspective portraits. The result is an emotional cartography, one that invites visitors to trace the contours of Nara’s mind and world.
Highlights of the Exhibition
The retrospective builds on previous exhibitions in Bilbao and Baden-Baden, offering London audiences a curated view of both early breakthroughs and recent reflections. Notable works include:
Ships in Girl (1992): A turning point in Nara’s career, this painting introduces his now-iconic big-eyed character and signals a departure from traditional Japanese aesthetics in favour of a more ambiguous, global visual language.
From the Bomb Shelter (2017): Painted in the wake of the Tōhoku earthquake and Fukushima nuclear disaster, this piece shows a lone child emerging from underground — a poignant image of survival and uncertainty.
Midnight Tears (2023): A hauntingly delicate recent work, its dreamlike colour palette and tear-streaked face capture both loss and resilience in a time of global disquiet.
Throughout the exhibition, the influence of music is deeply felt. From folk protest songs to punk and new wave, sound functions as both a source of rebellion and a balm — a duality reflected in the rhythmic quality of Nara’s brushwork and the lyrical melancholy of his subjects.
Art as Personal and Political
Nara’s art is, at its core, a kind of visual autobiography — shaped by childhood memories, geopolitical events, and cultural migration. His time studying in Germany at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf in the 1980s proved formative. Unable to speak the language, he turned to painting as a means of communication, influenced by Neo-Expressionist masters like A. R. Penck.
Yet even as his work matured, it never lost its emotional immediacy. The political remains personal for Nara. His responses to tragedy, such as the Fukushima disaster, are not grand gestures, but quiet, intimate depictions of human endurance.
Why This Exhibition Matters Now
In a time marked by conflict, climate anxiety, and the disconnection of the digital age, Nara’s art resonates deeply. His figures may be small, often solitary, but they carry with them the full weight of modern life — its sorrow, its tenderness, its quiet resistance. To stand in their presence is to be seen and unsettled all at once.
Whether you’re a long-time admirer of Nara or encountering his work for the first time, this exhibition offers a rare chance to engage with an artist whose visual language is as universal as it is deeply personal.
Plan Your Visit
Exhibition: Yoshitomo Nara
Location: Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre, London
Dates: 10 June – 31 August 2025
Photo Gallery
You can find some of my photos in the gallery below and also on the links provided below. All images were taken at the press preview.
