Yoshitomo Nara opening at Blum & Poe...

Yoshitomo Nara's big LA opening was last night over at Blum&Poe, and what a show it was. A great way to wrap up the year and the opening brought many regulars out to view the playful works of Nara. A nice lil' mini family reunion of sorts before the holidays. In attendance were Mark Ryden, Marion Peck, Yoskay Yamamoto, Nate Frizzel, Gary Baseman, James Jean, Beau from Cerasoli : Le Basse Gallery, Steve and Marcus from Arrested Motion, CommandaX and so many more... a great night!


The main gallery hall featured a handful of beautiful new paintings on canvas, including the gem of the show shown above - “Agent Orange in the Milky Lake”. There was also a nice wall of tightly hung new large drawings (shown below)...

The below piece measured a good 6' tall and greeted patrons as they entered the main hall (outside of the two main gallery spaces)...

As one left the main gallery, and prepared to enter the next gallery (which had been outfited with a special rounded and lowered opening - sorry, we didn't get a good shot of the entry way), you noticed hanging above a large clear acrylic peace symbol that was packed full of hand-made Nara plush characters... a good 4' round, it was a sight to behold and set the vibe for the fun that lay within Nara's covered wagon...

Upon entering the 2nd gallery that housed the magnificent covered wagon studio installation, you were met with the below monster of a piece - "Lonely" - it had to have been at least 18-20 feet long and a good 8 feet high. Impressive in scope for sure.

But the true highlight of the show was the amazing covered wagon installation - “California Orange Covered Wagon” - from Nara's YNG.

Every lil' detail was thought through and executed with amazing skill... just a magical wagon that we wish we could have hitched up to our VW and drove home with...

Below was the entry to the back of the wagon, where one could see a small recreation of sorts of Nara's working space. Included were many smaller works, works in progress, old mail, photographs, and various ephemera that might normally be found in his studio and in some way had an impact on the creation of the works that made up this show.... many great interior shots follow...

Below is a glimpse behind the scenes, at many smaller works most patrons probably didn't get the chance to view. There were at least an additional dozen unframed smaller drawings on old, discarded envelopes, as well as two additional works on canvas that were just beautiful and a series of about 4 drawings based around The Ramones that were framed and hanging about... so tempting to have all laid out in front of you like that :)

New works from Yoshitomo Nara - on view at Blum & Poe through January 30th - don't miss it. Blum & Poe is located at 2754 S. La Cienega Blvd. in Culver City.