YOSHITOMO NARA (B. 1959)

Miss Spring

digital pigment print on Takeo Deep PV Hakou paper and hardcover Phaidon and Artspace limited edition book

print: 11 x 9 inches (27.9 x 22.9 cm)

book: 11 3/8 x 9 7/8 inches (28.9 x 25.1 cm)

Executed in 2012/2021. This work is number 78 from an edition of 100 plus 5 artist's proofs and 1 publisher's proof. 

NOTES: 

Yoshitomo Nara is one of the most influential Japanese contemporary artists of his generation. Blending pop cultural aesthetics with raw psychological depth, Nara’s work captures a unique sense of defiance, vulnerability, and introspection. His paintings and drawings have become icons of postwar Japanese art, bridging manga, punk, and the politics of innocence.

Originally created in response to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the print embodies a spirit of quiet resilience and emotional renewal. A young girl with mismatched orange and blue eyes gazes directly outward—an arresting presence rendered in soft hues, her gentle sweater patterned with blocks of saturated color. At once disarming and meditative, the composition captures Nara’s ability to transmit complex feeling through a minimalist, almost childlike vocabulary.