Yoshitomo Nara (奈良 美智, Nara Yoshitomo; born 5 December 1959 in Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, Japan) is a Japanese…Yoshitomo Nara (奈良 美智, Nara Yoshitomo; born 5 December 1959 in Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, Japan) is a Japanese artist. He lives and works in Nasushiobara, Tochigi Prefecture, though his artwork has been exhibited worldwide. Nara has had nearly 40 solo exhibitions since 1984. His art work has been housed at the MoMA and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). His most well-known and repeated subjects are "big-headed girls" with piercing eyes, who one Nara scholar describes as having "childlike expressions [that] resonate with adult emotions, [their] embodiment of kawaii (cuteness) carries a dark humor, and any explicit cultural references are intertwined with personal memories."
Nui Sano (Japanese: 佐野 ぬい, romanized: Sano Nui; November 16, 1932 – August 23, 2023) was a Japanese yōga…Nui Sano (Japanese: 佐野 ぬい, romanized: Sano Nui; November 16, 1932 – August 23, 2023) was a Japanese yōga ("Western-style") painter. She was known for her rhythmic, abstract style and her frequent use of the color blue. A longtime instructor at the Joshibi University of Art and Design, she served as the school's president from 2007 to 2011.
Shikō Munakata (棟方 志功, Munakata Shikō; September 5, 1903 – September 13, 1975) was a woodblock printmaker active in…Shikō Munakata (棟方 志功, Munakata Shikō; September 5, 1903 – September 13, 1975) was a woodblock printmaker active in Shōwa period Japan. He is associated with the sōsaku-hanga movement and the mingei (folk art) movement. Munakata was awarded the "Prize of Excellence" at the Second International Print Exhibition in Lugano, Switzerland in 1952, and first prize at the São Paulo Bienal Exhibition in Brazil in 1955, followed by Grand Prix at the Venice Biennale in 1956, and the Order of Culture, the highest honor in the arts by the Japanese government in 1970.