One of the things I most enjoyed writing this year was an essay on Yoshitomo Nara and his work's relationship to music. It's for the Pace Gallery publication Piancoteca, which is out now.
Release rationale:
With extensive photography and special foldouts, this book recreates the experience of Yoshitomo Nara’s Pinacoteca 2021, a multi-room installation exhibited at Pace in London.
Set among Nara’s recent sculpture and paintings, his small house-like structure, reworked from an earlier project titled London Mayfair House, evokes curiosity and contemplation. The artist’s signature wide-eyed figures adorn Pinacoteca 2021 both inside and out, painted directly on the structure and on wood and canvas hung by Nara himself, as well as drawn on paper, used envelopes, and cardboard boxes.
An essay by music writer Simon Reynolds explores the relationship of music to Nara’s artistic production, and an essay by curator Stephanie Rosenthal discusses the role of built environments in the artist’s oeuvre. Also presented is an illustrated checklist of the artist’s rooms and house projects made between 2004 and 2021.
