Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on June 9, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Yoshitomo Nara's largest European retrospective opens in London, featuring over 150 works. The exhibition highlights his creative journey and influences.
LONDON (Reuters) -Artworks by Yoshitomo Nara go on display in London this week in what organisers say is the largest European retrospective of the Japanese artist.
The show, running at the Hayward Gallery by the River Thames, features more than 150 works - drawings, paintings, sculptures, ceramics and installations - nodding to the longtime influences of Nara's works including music, nature, the importance of home and the peace movement.
"This is about 40 years' worth of my work," Nara told Reuters at a press preview on Monday.
"When I look at my work I don't think what I'm trying to say has actually changed in that time. Whatever period I look at reflects a part of myself, which is why this exhibition is not done chronologically."
Nara, 65, is best known for his portraits of child-like characters with big gazing eyes.
"I think all the pictures I've created are like my reflections," he said when asked about them.
On display are plenty of those kinds of paintings and drawings as well as sculptures.
"Anything goes," says Nara, who was born in Aomori Prefecture in northern Japan and lived in Germany early in his career before moving back home, said of his creative process.
"I don't think about what I'm doing, but when I've done something good I can feel the reason behind it almost like a kind of hindsight."
The show is an expanded version of a touring exhibition previously put on at the Guggenheim in Bilbao and Museum Frieder Burda in Baden-Baden.
"What’s quite interesting, I think, for audiences in London and in Europe overall (is)... we don't actually get to see Nara’s work in person that often," exhibition curator Yung Ma said.
"We’ve all seen his paintings and drawings on our devices...but I think all these kind of images, they don't do the works justice. So it's actually quite important to come and see because you can actually then understand (that)... he’s a really good painter...but you can actually really see the texture of the works and the colours and the layering of the paint."
The exhibition runs from June 10 to August 31.
(Reporting by Marie-Louise Gumuchian; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
The exhibition is said to be the largest European retrospective of Yoshitomo Nara, showcasing over 150 works that reflect 40 years of his artistic journey.
The show includes drawings, paintings, sculptures, ceramics, and installations, highlighting Nara's diverse artistic expressions.
Nara describes his creative process as one where 'anything goes,' emphasizing that he doesn't overthink his work but recognizes the reasons behind successful pieces in hindsight.
The exhibition is open from June 10 to August 31, providing audiences ample opportunity to experience Nara's work in person.
Exhibition curator Yung Ma notes that viewing Nara's work in person is crucial, as digital images do not do the artworks justice.
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