A to Z Memorial Dog
2006
Sculpture
Fiberglass
Yoshino-cho Park in Hirosaki, Japan
Nara’s White Dog has become among the artist’s most iconic images. The benign animals have been featured on T-shirts, stuffed toys, radios, and various novelty items. In ‘A to Z Memorial Dog’ the white dog takes the form of a massive sculpture with closed eyes and a pose that is suggestive of Buddhist meditation. The white colour also carries associations with the white-ghost spirit in Japanese culture.
Yoshimoto Nara
Superflat, Pop Art, Ukiyo-e Japanese Woodblock Prints, Japonism
Born: 5 December 1959, Aomori, Japan
Nationality: Japanese
A central figure within contemporary Japanese art, Nara is associated with the rise of Superflat art; a term coined by Takashi Murakami to describe the art movement that blends a two-dimensional graphic design with the contemplative interests of fine art. Nara’s deceptively simple art uses cartoon-style imagery to express the conflict of childhood emotion and anxiety within a single figure. Nara’s children are typically shown in a mood of resistance and rebellion. The illustrative quality of his art, and also his nationality, has often associated Nara with traditional Japanese manga and anime but his work draws on a wider range of influences from Western Punk Rock and fairy tales to Eastern religions and philosophies
