Yoshitomo Nara1959~ 奈良美智

Yoshitomo Nara (born December 5, 1959) is a Japanese contemporary painter and sculptor from Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, internationally celebrated for his iconic images of wide-eyed children and animals. After completing his MFA at Aichi University of the Arts in 1987, he moved to Germany in 1988 and studied at the Kunstakademie Dusseldorf under A.R. Penck. From 1994 he was based in Cologne, where he produced many of the defiant, doll-like girl portraits that brought him international fame, before repatriating to Japan in 2000. His major Yokohama Museum of Art solo exhibition “I DON’T MIND, IF YOU FORGET ME.” (2001) cemented his status, and his work is now held in major collections worldwide. He currently lives and works at his studio “N’s YARD” in Nasushiobara, Tochigi Prefecture.