Yoshitomo Nara (1959-) is one of my favorite contemporary artists.

I've "discovered" him several years ago at the Tate Modern bookshop where I got this postcards book and since then I love his children "portraits": the sleeping girl (well, at least for me she's sleeping...) here above stays normally on my night table so it's the last thing I see when I turn off the light, it always puts a smile on my face...

I love the sorbet palette of these pop and manga influenced artworks (but the influences on Nara's work must be found also beyond the most obvious sources and they include the traditional japanese painting style, graffiti, punk and even the Italian Renaissance portraits). What really fascinates me is that the sweetness and cuteness are always only on the surface: these children almost always have stubborn features or cheeky looks or plain evil grins. Only apparently kawaii, Nara's creatures don't smile often, on the contrary they're looking at us serious and severe and almost always they're alone and lost or abandoned in the blank background with no defence except their blaming gaze and, sometimes, tiny weapons in their cartoonish hands. They are so tender.

(Even if very different, I would say these childrens have something in common with the work of the Italian illustrator Nicoletta Ceccoli...).

If you like Nara too, I recommend this book: Lullaby Supermarket. Besides pretty, large format illustrations and photos, includes commentary, an interview and a brief article by Banana Yoshimoto.