Yoshitomo Nara was born in 1959 and raised in Hirosaki, a small town in Aomori Prefecture in northern Japan. He acquired his Master’s Degree at Aichi Prefectural University of Fine Arts and Music in 1987 and moved on to Germany to study at Kunstakademie Düsseldorf (State Academy of Arts) in 1988. Under A.R. Penck, Nara attained the title “Meisterschüler” (master pupil) and proceeded to work in Cologne from 1994 to 2000. In 1998, Nara taught at the University of California, Los Angeles for three months as a guest professor. The artist returned to Japan in 2000, initially working in Tokyo before moving to Tohigi in 2005.

Working in multiple art forms, including painting, drawing, sculpture in ceramic, bronze and fiber-reinforced plastic, and large-scale installations, Nara uses depictions of children and animals to convey his interpretation of life.

The Center provides free docent-led tours of the exhibition for the general public. Places are limited on a first-come, first-served basis.

Admission: Free

From April onwards, on-line registration for the docent tours will be available. Please click here for pre-registration.

• For April tours, registration starts from 31st March (Tue), 11:00am

• For May tours, registration starts from 28th April (Tue), 11:00am

• For June tours, registration starts from 2nd June (Tue), 11:00am

• For July tours, registration starts from 30th June (Tue), 11:00am

• Each docent tour lasts for approximately 40 minutes.

• Please bring along the confirmation letter and arrive at the Gallery reception at least 15 mins before the scheduled docent tour for registration.

• No late comers will be entertained.

• Places are limited on a first-come-first-served basis.

• Schedules are subject to change without prior notice.

• Asia Society Hong Kong Center reserves the right on final decision.

• For enquiry, please call +852 2103 9511 or email to [email protected].

Family Tour

• No pre-registration required. Enrolment starts at 30 minutes before the scheduled tour of the date.

• Please obtain a badge from the Gallery Reception for identification.

• Places are limited on a first-come-first-served basis.

• Maximum 8 families per session. Maximum 4 persons per family.

• Suitable for children aged 3 – 10 to join together with parents. 

• Schedules are subject to change without prior notice. 

Tours for Schools

The Center provides free docent-led tours of the exhibition to schools.

Request for school visits will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis.

For further information or to apply, please call +852 2103 9511 or email: [email protected] for more information

Life is Only One: Yoshitomo Nara, ArtAsiaPacific, 2015

奈良美智大型個展將在香港亮相, 《新浪收藏》, February 22, 2015

奈良美智作品展反映「無常人生」, 《蘋果新聞》，March 3, 2015

Yoshitomo Nara: neo-pop artist who defies categorisation, South China Morning Post, March 4, 2015

On View: “Life is Only One: Yoshitomo Nara” at Asia Society Hong Kong, Hi Fructose, March 6, 2015

Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara launches Hong Kong show, South China Morning Post, March 6, 2015

奈良美智香港首個展覽－無常人生, 《關鍵評論》，March 6, 2015

Life is…？ 311 後遺．奈良美智親解構香港個人展《無常人生！》, Unwire.HK, March 6, 2015

Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara says Hong Kong is like a tasty bowl of noodles, South China Morning Post, March 9, 2015

Q&A: Yoshitomo Nara Seeks Lasting Art After Japan’s Tsunami, Wall Street Journal, March 12, 2015

奈良美智藝術展 二十年「無常人生」, 《星島日報》，March 12, 2015

奈良美智童眼看人生，《東方日報》，March 13, 2015

Exhibition Review: ‘Life is Only One: Yoshitomo Nara’, Orientations, May 2015

Nara’s Life Gone Wrong, CoBo Social, July 31, 2015

Press Release 新聞稿

English
中文

Dear Visitors,

The Asia Society Hong Kong Center would like to welcome you to our much beloved heritage site, and The Hong Kong Jockey Club Presents: Life is Only One: Yoshitomo Nara Exhibition at the Chantal Miller Gallery.

Due to the expected high visitor traffic at the exhibition, kindly note the policies and tips below to ensure your visit is generally pleasant:

1. Wait times: Gallery entry waiting time may take more than 45 minutes
Due to high visitor traffic (especially Fridays and weekends) and limited capacity of the gallery (120 pax), visitors may need to spend some time to link up outside of the gallery. Visitors are recommended to saunter around and explore the site when the Gallery crowd control is in place. Feel free to pick up a Center Guide at the Main Reception (ground gloor).

2. Gallery docent tours operate on a first-come, first-served basis
If you would like to join the Gallery docent tours, please obtain a badge (30 minutes before the docent tour commences on first-come, first served basis) from the Main Reception for identification. Availability of Gallery docent tours is not guaranteed - each docent tour could only serve 30 visitors due to the limited space inside the Gallery.

3. Gallery docent tours will not use any speech amplifiers during tours
Due to the limited space inside the Gallery and to avoid disturbances to the other visitors, docents will not be using any amplifier devices during the tour.

4. Large items are required to be stored at the Reception’s Cloakroom
In the interest of the security of the Gallery exhibits, visitors are required to cloak large bags or items at the Reception. We thank you for your cooperation.

5. No Photography and Sketching
Visitors are not permitted to take photographs and sketches of the exhibits in Chantal Miller Gallery.

6. No Food and Drinks
Food (including gum and candy) and drinks are prohibited inside the Chantal Miller Gallery.

Through preservation and adaptive re-use, the Asia Society Hong Kong Center campus was transformed from a derelict military site into a modern cultural hub, where we hope the visitors would enjoy the programs and exhibitions as much as the architectural heritage and its history.

Thank you for visiting and we look forward to seeing you again at our other programs and exhibitions. (www.asiasociety.org/hong-kong)

Asia Society Hong Kong Center
March 2015
 

The porcelain plate sets will be available for sale every Tuesday during the exhibition period. 100 sets will be available per week from March 24, 2015 until the exhibition closes (July 26, 2015). To be able to purchase a set, each buyer will need to correctly answer a question about the exhibition at the Asia Society Store at the Hong Kong Center. Buyers are limited to buy one set of plates per person while stock lasts. The set of three plates is priced at HK$988 and is available under the terms described above on a first come, first served basis.

Only iPhone 6 and 6 Plus Cases will be on sale from the opening of the exhibition on March 6, 2015 until the exhibition closes (July 26, 2015) while stock lasts.

The "Shining Doggy" will be open for sale from March 24, 2015 and buyers are limited to purchase two dogs per person while stock lasts.

Yoshitomo Nara in conversation with Fumio Nanjo at Asia Society Hong Kong Center, March 7, 2015.

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Lectures:
March 6, 2015: The Minds Behind "Life Is Only One" with Yoshitomo Nara and Fumio Nanjo
March 7, 2015: Talking to the Past, Talking to Today with Yoshitomo Nara
May 26, 2015: Children in Nara's Works with Mika Kuraya
July 21, 2015: The Possibility of Love in Yoshitomo Nara's Art with Miwako Tezuka

Workshops:
Illustration Master Class Series
April 18, 2015: Kit Lau - Paper Art: Pop-up Animals
May 2, 2015: Yeung Hok Tak - Printmaking
May 9, 2015: Carrie Chau - Assemblage
June 6, 2015: Wilson Shieh - Chinese classical painting: Childhood Self Portrait
June 13, 2015: Prudence Mak (Chocolate Rain) - Tote bag Painting: The child inside me
July 11, 2015: Carrie Chau - Illustration Techniques
Sundays with Nara Workshop Series
March 29, 2015: Childhood
April 26, 2015: My Dog
May 31, 2015: Hear What I Say
June 28, 2015: Self-Portrait
July 26, 2015: Musical Inspirations

Screening:
Traveling with Yoshitomo Nara
April 18, 2016
June 6, 2015

Art Competition:
“Life is Only One – Imagination of Life” Art Competition
Read more about the competition winners and exhibition here. 

Afternoon Open House:
27 July, 2015: SayoNARA

Title (English): Once in a Life – Encounters with Nara
Title (Chinese): 一期一會：奈良美智
ISBN: 978-988-12272-5-6
Size: 240mm x 180mm portrait
Price: HKD$280
Binding: Section sewn in 16, case-in square back, H&T band, jacketed
Publisher: Asia Society Hong Kong Center

Yoshitomo Nara is recognized as one of the most influential artists of the day. His works are very accessible, so much so that at times we do not look hard enough because we feel we understand them already. But how much do we really know about his angry, yet cute looking little girls? How is it that we all feel we recognize the emotions being portrayed? What makes his art so relevant to such a wide range of viewers?

Following from Asia Society Hong Kong Center’s preceding exhibition, Life is Only One: Yoshitomo Nara, this publication is not only a compilation of the works in the exhibition, but also an extension with the inclusion of other works and essays that present the artist and his art from his life experiences and memories. Extra thoughts into his inspirations are offered by looking at his childhood, his time in Germany, his love for music, and the aftermath of the 2011 Earthquake. Like small pieces of a puzzle, they piece together little-known stories about the artist and above all his thoughts on life.

奈良美智被公認為當代最具影響力的藝術家之一。他的作品十分平易近人，以致我們有時會因自以為完全理解他的創作而看得不夠仔細。但對於他筆下憤世卻可愛小女孩們，我們又了解多少呢？我們為何會自覺能夠辨識他所描繪的種種情緒？又是甚麽讓奈良的藝術能與廣泛的觀衆產生共鳴？

繼亞洲協會香港中心此前展覽「無常人生：奈良美智」後，本書收錄了其他在展覽以外的作品，以及幾篇從奈良的人生經歷和回憶探討其創作的文章。透過細看藝術家的童年、他在德國的經歷、對音樂的熱愛和2011年東日本大震災的影響，提出了更多關於奈良的藝術創作的想法。猶如拼圖一般，奈良的人生點滴一塊一塊地拼湊出鮮為人知的故事，以及他對人生的思考。