Japanese Contemporary Art - Merchandise Specials

Yoshitomo Nara, Yayoi Kusama, Yoshimasa Tsuchiya, Takashi Murakami, Hiroyuki Matsuura 4/3-6/3/2021

Are you still unable to get the merchandise you want after waiting for 3 hours at the Yoshitomo Nara special exhibition? Well, skip the line and avoid the crowd because YiCOLLECTA has prepared everything for you! In addition to the popular Nara merchandise, Kusama, Tsuchiya, Murakami, and Matsuura are also also selling merchandise. A total of 30 products have been selected for easy online purchase.

Yoshitomo Nara is one of the artists that best represents Japanese contemporary art. He was born in Hirosaki City, Aomori Prefecture in 1959. After graduating from Aichi University of the Arts, Nara went to Kunstakademie Düsseldorf (the fine-arts academy in Germany) to study. His most well-known paintings are ones with children and animals with hints of evilness and innocence in their eyes. The soft paint makes the images look flat and the characters seem to float in open, unrestricted spaces, allowing them to stand out more. He settled in Cologne in 1994, during which he began to incorporate Japanese style and Western popular culture into his works. His love of music also influenced his art. The 2011 Tōhoku earthquake had a great impact on his art as he was unable to create anything following the aftermath of the disaster. In 2016, he said: “unlike other artists affected by the earthquake; I grew up in Aomori, which is the border of Fukushima.” During that period, his works such as “In the Milky Lake/Thinking One'' created after the disaster, carried a kind of contemplation and sorrow, which seems to reflect the impermanence and shortness of life. In 2019, his large-scale work: “Knife Behind Back'', which measures 234 x 208cm, was sold at Sotheby’s for HK $195 million, setting a record price and is also one of the largest canvas works by Nara ever to be sold at auction.

Even after becoming an internationally renowned artist, Nara still likes to keep a low profile and does not talk to too many people. He likes to work alone in his studio, however, with his mellow personality, Nara loves to play loud music. The Nara posters that are currently on sale all include exquisite handmade frames, 123 drummer girl glass jars, N’s YARD limited edition Aomori dog magnets, and limited edition crystal balls from 2001 that have been out of print.

Yayoi Kusama is one of Japanese’s national treasures and the only Asian artist selected as one of the 100 most influential artists in the world. Collected by more than 90 art museums in the world, Kusama’s works are featured mainly in public institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art, and the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo. Kusama’s well-known red dots originated from the childhood hallucinations produced by staring at tablecloth; as a result she started to draw dots all day and through the night as well. According to Kusama, ever since she was a child, she often heard dogs talking and saw flowers with faces talking to each other and found that the only way to alleviate her illness was to keep creating. Dots, pumpkins, unbounded webs, butterflies, etc. have all transformed into iconic elements.

In addition to Kusama’s little pumpkin paperweight (which is now back on the shelves), there will also be small pumpkin pendants on sale. Fans of Kusama should definitely not miss this! Tscuchiya’s Catloat, Murakami’s small flower pendants, and Matsura’s Windy Bunny will also be sold. The number of art products selected are limited, so act quickly!

* Excluding shipping fee
* End of exhibition

Curator: YiCOLLECTA