NYC's Park Avenue to Feature Yoshitomo Nara's 'White Ghost' Exhibit, 9/6 - 11/5

New York City's Department of Parks & Recreation is pleased to announce White Ghost, an exhibition of two new sculptures by Yoshitomo Nara to be featured on the Park Avenue Malls at East 67th Street and East 70th Street from September 6 through November 5, 2010. This exhibition is presented in conjunction with the Art Production Fund and The Sculpture Committee of The Fund for Park Avenue.

"Yoshitomo Nara's grand sculptures will enliven Park Avenue and give New Yorkers and visitors a look into the window of contemporary Japanese art," said Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe. "Parks is proud to partner with the Art Production Fund and the Fund for Park Avenue to present this exciting, free exhibition of Nara's artwork in New York City."

This public art installation coincides with Yoshitomo Nara: Nobody's Fool, a major retrospective at the Asia Society from September 9, 2010 through January 2, 2011, and Nara's open studio residency throughout August at the Park Avenue Armory. The large sculptures on the Park Avenue Malls stand near the entrances to Asia Society and Park Avenue Armory like komainu, mythical lion-like animal statues commonly placed at the entrance to Japanese shrines as guardians. Nara, who often uses dogs and children as subjects in his work, has uniquely combined the two for White Ghost. The sculptures are glossy white, and sit on rough stone-like bases, referencing how artifacts and monuments from the past often appear in museums. By presenting the sculptures in such a way, he considers the future ruins of his own work, and ultimately his own mortality.

Since the Japanese pop movement in the 1990s, Yoshitomo Nara has received international acclaim for his distinct figurative style. His drawings, paintings and sculptures can be seen in Permanent Collections at MoMA, New York; CAC Malaga, Spain; and Queensland Art Gallery, Australia. Nara's largest sculpture, a 27' high concrete dog is permanently installed at the Aomori Art Museum, Japan. His mixture of vulnerability, rebellion and hopefulness within his artworks connects intimately with people worldwide.