My Drawing Room, 2008

My Drawing Room, 2008

Yoshitomo Nara, My Drawing Room, 2008, Mixed media, 118 11/16 × 147 5/8 × 149 5/8 in. (301.5 × 375 × 380 cm), Collection of the artist, © Yoshitomo Nara 2008, photo by Mie Morimoto, courtesy of the artist

Nara began creating portable installations of his paintings, drawings, and sculptures, which ranged from the three-part installation S.M.L. (2003) to the epic twenty-six-installation exhibition A to Z (2006), in 2003. These domestic environments culminated in My Drawing Room, a painted wooden architectural structure that recreates Nara’s studio space. A hand-painted billboard with the words “Place Like Home” hangs on the exterior, and the inside features piles of drawings on the floor and a desk with figurines, mix CDs that Nara curated, vernacular paintings, drawings, ephemera, and collectibles from vintage Americana shops that the artist has accumulated over the years.

Nara selected the music playing here to complement this installation. The songs reflect his love of 1960s and ʼ70s singer- songwriters, who he began listening to as an adolescent and whose work greatly influenced his own.