David Zwirner, one of the world's most prominent contemporary art galleries, announced on Monday that it will now officially represent renowned Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara. The partnership marks a significant shift in representation for the internationally acclaimed artist, who is best known for his distinctive portraits featuring moody young girls with banged hair. Nara will debut his first solo exhibition with Zwirner at one of the gallery's New York locations.
The representation deal was facilitated through Nara's international agent Joe Baptista, who operates through his Equivalence Art Agency. This development comes after a notable change in the art world landscape, as Baptista was previously a partner at Pace Gallery, which had served as Nara's longtime representative. The transition also follows the closure of Blum gallery, another significant venue that had helped introduce Nara's work to American audiences through its Los Angeles location.
Blum gallery's final exhibition featuring Nara closed in March of this year, just months before dealer Tim Blum made the decision to close his gallery entirely. Meanwhile, Pace Gallery, which had mounted its first solo exhibition for Nara in 2013, had not previously announced Baptista's departure from the gallery. However, Zwirner's press release indicates that Pace will maintain an ongoing relationship with the artist despite the change in primary representation.
Pace CEO Marc Glimcher expressed his thoughts on the transition in a statement to ARTnews, saying, "We are so proud of everything we have done for Yoshitomo Nara. Looking back on our 14 years of working together, we would not do anything differently and as such this development is a little surprising, but we understand that in this environment things happen. We remain undying fans of the work and look forward to collaborating with the artist on future projects. We wish for a great relationship between him and David."
Nara himself reflected on joining Zwirner in an official statement, expressing his appreciation for the new partnership. "Now, I feel fortunate to present the works I will be creating under the guidance of a gallerist who, though born and raised in a different place, shares the same generation and the spirit of the era we both lived through—including its subcultures," Nara said. "I am also aware that this good fortune rests upon the many layers of good fortune that have carried me this far."
Born in Japan in 1959, Nara has developed a multifaceted artistic practice that extends beyond his well-known paintings to include drawing, sculpture, and architectural installations. His artistic journey took him to Germany in the late 1980s, where he lived for over a decade, and his experiences in both countries have significantly influenced his distinctive artistic voice. His work often explores themes of vulnerability and human connection, running counter to the postconceptual strategies that dominated the art world during his early career.
Currently, Nara's work is being showcased in a survey exhibition at the Orange County Museum of Art in California. His most recent major traveling retrospective began at the Guggenheim Bilbao in 2024 and concluded at the Hayward Gallery in London this past September. Prior to that, he had a significant retrospective that opened at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 2021 and subsequently traveled to the Yuz Museum in Shanghai.
Nara's international presence has been solidified through participation in numerous prestigious exhibitions and biennials. His work has been featured in the 2025 Amsterdam Sculpture Biennale, the 2018 Gwangju Biennale, the 2018 Bangkok Art Biennale, and the 2006 Shanghai Biennale. These exhibitions have helped establish his reputation as one of the most important voices in contemporary art.
The artist's commercial success is reflected in strong auction performance, with his work frequently commanding high prices. Nara's current auction record stands at $25 million, achieved during a 2019 evening sale in Hong Kong. However, the market has shown some volatility, as demonstrated when his work "Haze Days" (1988) failed to find a buyer at a Christie's evening sale in London last month, despite carrying an estimate of £6.5 million to £8.5 million ($8.7 million to $11.4 million).
David Zwirner, the gallery's founder, shared his personal connection to Nara's work in a statement about the new representation. Zwirner recalled first encountering the artist's work in the early 1990s in Cologne, where Nara was living at the time. "Nara's work seemed so radical to me then, as it ran counter to the postconceptual strategies that were pervasive in the art world at the time," Zwirner explained. "Instead, Nara invited us to contemplate a world of vulnerability and genuine human connection."
Zwirner described attending the recent Hayward Gallery retrospective as "a true revelation," adding his admiration for the artist's approach. "Again, I was struck by Nara's enormous generosity as an artist; he readily invites us into his inner universe, while challenging us to confront our own, reminding us that we have the right to resist," Zwirner said. "I am deeply honored to welcome Yoshitomo Nara, one of the most important and authentic voices in contemporary culture, to the gallery."
