Yoshitomo Nara, No Means No, 2006. 20th Century and Contemporary Art Evening Sale Hong Kong.
Yoshitomo Nara’s seminal No Means No leads Phillips’ Hong Kong Evening Sale of 20th Century & Contemporary Art on 6 October.
The 2006 work brilliantly displays Nara’s hallmark technique of partially obscuring gentle pastel strokes with a translucent film of frosted white. It features an iconic Nara girl staring ahead with massive eyes that twinkle like galaxies. In this context, the title carries anti-war undertones as is characteristic of the pacifist artist. Measuring 162.5 x 130.8cm, the large scale of No Means No distinguishes the piece from the majority of Nara’s work to come to auction.
No Means No — A Timeline
2003: Yoshitomo Nara and the design collective graf begin their collaboration.
2006: Yoshitomo Nara paints No Means No, depicting an iconic Nara girl staring ahead with massive eyes that are executed with beautiful layers of floating iridescent colors.
2007: No Means No is presented in Berlin at Yoshitomo Nara + graf: Berlin Baracke, hosted by Galerie Zink.
2008: No Means No is shown at the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art which marked the first show at a major public gallery in the United Kingdon for Nara + graf.
2023: No Means No to be offered for the first time at auction at Phillips Hong Kong.