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Wide-eyed children and cartoon-like animals haunt the imagination of artist Yoshitomo Nara in the San Jose Museum of Art's latest exhibit, Nothing Ever Happens. The Tokyo-based artist displays nearly 150 paintings, drawings and sculptures on this traveling pop-art tour that remains in San Jose through Oct. 31.
While San Francisco may have Warhol for the summer, San Jose sees the influence of the Japanese iconic figures that have infiltrated children's video games, cartoons, fashion and art for more than a decade. Rather than transforming the notion of "celebrity," as Warhol successfully did in the 1960s, Nara's "new pop" seeks its information-age target through childlike characters that are at once brimming with innocence and worldly insight.
Nara, who grew up in postWorld War II Japan, has a style influenced by both American pop culture and Japanese comic books. He has gained cult status in Japan, and this exhibit will crack open the American scene for his brand of ultra-cool techno-kitsch.
In conjunction with the Nara exhibit and in collaboration with San Jose's Anno Domini gallery, SJMA presents Art of Zines 04. Once known as "fanzines," the underground publications dating back to the 1930s have emerged with mainstream acceptance and support, and by the mid-1990s were known simply as "zines." Some say that their mass popularity has subsided and zines have moved back to subculture status. Regardless, the cultural phenomenon earns its own art exhibit, exploring the communication form's evolution over the years.
"Nothing Ever Happens" and "Art of Zines 04" are on exhibit at the San Jose Museum of Art through Oct. 31. Admission is free. Call 408.294.2787 or visit www.sanjosemuseumofart.org for more information.
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