Yoshitomo Nara
“Yoshitomo Nara,” an artist who has earned worldwide recognition and acclaim.
His works now trade at considerable prices at auction, and the situation is such that forgeries sometimes turn up for sale.
Even in the “primary market”—the first-tier market where an artist debuts new works—the prices are astonishingly high. At a drawing-focused solo exhibition held in February 2018, even very small works were sold at surprising prices.
https://art-on.jp/yoshitomonara-price2018/
Here I’d like to introduce a way to display Yoshitomo Nara’s work in your room—not the original works themselves, but something close to it.
The Art Book
To get straight to the point: Yoshitomo Nara’s art book “DRAWING FILE” solves everything at once!
It’s a book edited with displaying the works as its main purpose.
It is his first large-format art book, containing 77 drawings, including works shown at the 2005 Yokohama Triennale. Printed at actual size, the book has perforations on every page—an utterly luxurious volume that lets you display Yoshitomo Nara’s works at home.
The reason I recommend this book comes down to the following distinctive points.
- Large size
- Removable pages
- One work per sheet (printed on one side only)
- Nicely done color printing
- Carefully chosen paper stock
- Packed with volume—”77 works” included
1) Large Size
It’s a large 300x370mm format.
Bigger than an F4 canvas, roughly the feel of an F6 canvas shrunk down a notch, perhaps. Among the goods Nara sells, postcard-sized works are common, but works this large are rarely seen.
2) Removable
Every page can be removed.
You can turn the book into print works.
Removing them is relatively easy, too. You tear them out with your own hands, riiip.
So far, I haven’t botched a removal and torn a work.
3) One Work per Sheet (Printed on One Side Only)
As you can see in the photo above, when you open the book a work is printed on the right-hand page, while the left page is pure white with nothing printed on it.
There’s no show-through, so even when you display a work as is, nothing from the reverse page shows through.
4) Color Printing
The colors are natural, mindful of Nara’s subtle color expression. They have real texture—colors with a flavor close to the originals, I’d say.
5) Carefully Chosen Paper Stock
The paper stock, too, feels carefully chosen, using a drawing-paper-like material of the kind often seen in Nara’s works.
6) Packed with Volume—”77 Works” Included
What stands out most of all has to be the sheer volume of works included. It’s crammed with 77 drawings. I think the video below conveys that sense of volume. *Some pages were skipped, and some works have already been cut out.
I Tried Framing One
I actually tried framing one. It has real atmosphere and looks great.
It’s the same kind of framing as the display at the solo exhibition I actually visited.
If you check out how the solo exhibition looked, I think you’ll feel the quality is second to none.
https://art-on.jp/yoshitomonara-30years/
For framing, I recommend an “F6 size” frame, a size that leaves a little margin. Frames meant for drawings might also come into the running, so pick according to your taste.
https://www.matueda.com/?pid=7304681
For fixing the work inside the frame, I used “Hittsuki-mushi” (removable adhesive putty).
It can be taken off without damaging the work, so it’s been extremely handy.
Summary
The book introduced here is already out of print, so you’ll have to hunt for copies circulating on the secondhand market. It currently seems to trade for around 20,000 yen on Amazon (as of February 2020).
Even if you bought it for 20,000 yen, the per-work cost comes to about 260 yen—a rock-bottom price.
If you get one copy, there are all sorts of ways to enjoy it—swapping works out by season, displaying several at once—so it’s a great value and I recommend it.
How about it, everyone?!
Overview
Title: DRAWING FILE
Author: Yoshitomo Nara
Design: Makoto Yamamoto
List price: 5800 yen (base) + tax
ISBN: 4-902943-09-3 C0071
Format: A3 variant (370mm×300mm)
160 pages
Softcover, with slipcase
Published September 2005
