© Yoshitomo Nara and graf

Exhibition Preview - Yoshitomo Nara and graf, A to Z Project at BALTIC until Sunday October 26 2008.

BALTIC in Gateshead is currently hosting the first UK public gallery exhibition of the work of Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara and creative Osaka-based design company, graf.

The exhibition is the latest in a series of installations from the ongoing A to Z Project, which Nara and graf have been developing since 2003. It shows how Yoshitomo Nara’s work embodies a defiant spirit that is full of youthful optimism and a belief that we can change the world.

© Yoshitomo Nara and graf

Best known for his deceptively simple drawings, paintings and sculptures of children with apparently innocent kawaii, or cute, expressions, Nara’s work is influenced by popular culture.

Visitors may recognize motifs taken from punk music, rock ‘n’ roll and Manga as well as American cartoons of the artist’s childhood, but behind these overt influences Nara explores the tensions of a hyper-consumer culture.

During each phase of the A-to-Z project, the team has created a new wooden structure or ‘house’ that responds to the particular environment of the exhibition space.

For their piece at BALTIC Nara and graf explore the relationship between the individual, the space they inhabit and objects within their surroundings. The aim is to revive the idea of narrative and the relationship between the work and its environment, art and life.

© Yoshitomo Nara and graf

Ultimately the project will accumulate more than 26 houses over the course of 26 exhibitions. Together the houses create an imaginary town with each street named after a letter ‘A’ to ‘Z’.

At BALTIC Nara and graf have constructed three cross-shaped ‘houses’ – two of which are reconstructions from earlier stages; the third house is specially designed for the exhibition and built using local reclaimed materials.

The learning facility at BALTIC has also commissioned Nara to produce a new series of site-specific large scaled drawings in vinyl which have been on show to the public since July 2007.