Yohitomo nara sculptures at Art Zuid
Sculptures of Silent Strength
As part of the prestigious ARTZUID 2025 exhibition in Amsterdam, Japanese contemporary artist Yoshitomo Nara presents a series of monumental white bronze sculptures that captivate both emotionally and materially. These serene, childlike figures—imbued with mystery, defiance, and introspection—stand as modern icons of silent strength and vulnerability. In the tree-lined lanes of Amsterdam-Zuid, they offer a moment of contemplation amidst the city’s celebratory marking of 750 years of history.
The Artist: A Global Voice with Poetic Roots
Yoshitomo Nara
Medusa, 2024
Urethane on bronze
119.1 x 120 x 59 centimeters
AP2, Edition of 3, 2AP
Born in 1959 in Hirosaki, Japan, Yoshitomo Nara is one of the most influential artists of his generation. His work blends elements of Japanese manga, Western punk music, folk art, and deep psychological symbolism. Nara’s iconic figures—often young girls with oversized heads and piercing, ambiguous expressions—have become instantly recognizable worldwide.
Educated at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf in Germany in the late 1980s, Nara’s European experience shaped his artistic identity. His time in the West led to a unique blend of Eastern sensitivity and Western rebellion. He is widely represented by Pace Gallery and has been the subject of major retrospectives at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), the Aomori Museum of Art, and the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao.
Yoshitomo Nara
Sketch for the Sculpture, 2021
Colored pencil on paper
42 x 29.7 centimeters
Framed Dimensions: 56.6 x 44.1 x 3.7 centimeters
From Sketch to Sculpture: The Making of White Bronze
Nara’s artistic process often begins with intimate, spontaneous pencil sketches. These quick drawings are a core part of his practice, functioning like emotional diaries. Some of these sketches evolve into clay models—palm-sized studies that capture raw form and emotion.
From there, the artist enlarges selected maquettes into large-scale sculptures using white-patinated bronze. The sculptures are cast using traditional techniques, but the surface treatment—a soft, matte white finish created with a layer of urethane over the bronze—adds a clay-like softness to the otherwise dense material. This visual contradiction reflects Nara’s fascination with the coexistence of strength and fragility, permanence and impermanence.
Yoshitomo Nara
Sleepy Eyes, 2024
Urethane on bronze
95.9 x 122.4 x 65.1 centimeters
Brick Pedestal:83.8 x 160 x 109.9 centimeters
AP2, Edition of 3, 2AP
One of the prominent works at ARTZUID 2025 is Sleepy Eyes (2024), a figure both peaceful and confrontational, seemingly caught between dreaming and alertness. These characters are universal—unnameable, open to interpretation—yet deeply personal to the artist, often drawing on childhood memories and reflections on solitude.
A Japanese Voice in Amsterdam
Yoshitomo Nara’s participation in ARTZUID 2025 is more than symbolic. It deepens his long-standing connection with the Netherlands and its people. Over the years, his works have been exhibited in Dutch museums and collected by prominent European collections. His approach, which is both conceptual and emotional, resonates with Dutch audiences who appreciate art that balances simplicity with depth.
The ARTZUID 2025 theme, Enlightenment, curated by art historian Ralph Keuning, reflects on Amsterdam’s legacy of freedom, tolerance, and introspection. Nara’s sculptures contribute powerfully to this dialogue—quiet yet unmistakable voices asking questions rather than giving answers.
Why Nara Matters Today
In a world saturated with noise and digital overload, Nara’s sculptures invite us to pause. Their silence is profound. They confront us not with spectacle but with presence. Their expressions—ambiguous, melancholic, strong—mirror our own internal dialogues.
Through his meticulous transformation of sketch to bronze, Yoshitomo Nara proves that contemporary art can be emotionally rich, globally resonant, and deeply human. His works at ARTZUID offer a rare chance to encounter this vision on Dutch soil, in a city that continues to champion the global language of art.
Photography @OlivierVarossieau
Yoshitomo Nara
Both Side Now, 2024
Urethane on bronze
149.9 x 90 x 135 centimeters
Brick Pedestal: 91.4 x 149.9 x 135.3 centimeters
AP2, Edition of 3, 2AP
