Lithographs
62 works
Yoshitomo Nara What's Going On For Sale
Yoshitomo Nara
What's Going On, 1999
Fuji Xerox copy
41.5 × 29.5 cm (16 3/8 × 11 5/8 in)
Edition
Edition of 50 plus 10 AP
About this work
Yoshitomo Nara's *What's Going On* (1999) stands as a defining example of the artist's singular vision during a pivotal period in his career. Created at the height of his late-1990s output, this work showcases the wide-eyed child figure that has become synonymous with Nara's practice—a subject rendered with deceptive simplicity yet charged with psychological complexity. The title itself carries the defiant spirit of Nara's generation, echoing both punk rock sensibility and genuine existential inquiry. The figure's oversized head and penetrating gaze embody the tension between innocence and knowing rebellion that distinguishes Nara's most sought-after works. There is vulnerability here, certainly, but also an unmistakable resilience, a quiet refusal to be dismissed or sentimentalized. Nara emerged from Japan's Neo-Pop movement alongside Takashi Murakami, yet his aesthetic remains distinctly personal, drawing equally from childhood memory, underground music culture, and the isolation of his years studying in Germany. Works from this late-1990s period are particularly prized by collectors, representing the artist at a moment of creative clarity before his international recognition reached its current heights. Today, Nara's paintings and sculptures command significant attention at auction and remain central to institutional collections worldwide, cementing his position among the most influential contemporary artists working today. For acquisition inquiries regarding *What's Going On*, please contact Guy Hepner.
Price on Application
Auction History
What's Going On? (In the Floating World) · Yoshitomo Nara · China Guardian · 2022-10 · $6,191
More from this series
Yoshitomo Nara
Flashlight Girl
2001
Yoshitomo Nara
Full Moon Night
1999
Yoshitomo Nara
Girl In A Box
2001
Yoshitomo Nara
Little Tannenbaum
1999
Yoshitomo Nara
Mirror
1999
Yoshitomo Nara
No Fun
1997
Yoshitomo Nara
No Nukes Love And Peace
1999
Yoshitomo Nara
On the F Word
2002
Yoshitomo Nara
Peace Flag
2001
Yoshitomo Nara
Punk Ebizo
1998
Related Reading
More series by Yoshitomo Nara
About the Early Works Series
Overview
Yoshitomo Nara's early works capture the moment his visual language crystallised into one of the most recognisable in contemporary art. Produced largely between the late 1990s and early 2000s, these prints and editions introduce the lone, big-headed child — half innocent, half insurgent — that would come to define his practice. Raw, direct and steeped in the punk and folk music of his youth, they remain among the most sought-after entry points into Nara's world. Guy Hepner presents early Nara works at our New York gallery.
A Language Taking Shape
Nara spent formative years studying and working in Germany, and the emotional economy of these early pieces reflects that period of solitude and self-definition. Works such as No Fun (1997) and Punk Ebizo (1998) wear their attitude openly, while the 1999 group — Full Moon Night, Little Tannenbaum, Mirror, No Nukes Love And Peace and What's Going On — shows the artist refining a vocabulary of simplified line, flattened colour and a single confrontational figure set against an empty ground.
The media are as varied as the moods: alongside conventional editions sit experiments such as the What's Going On Fuji Xerox copy and the Peace Flag silkscreen printed on a cotton flag (2001), evidence of an artist testing how his imagery behaves across surfaces and formats.
Recurring Themes
Even at this early stage the essential Nara tensions are present: sweetness laced with defiance, vulnerability edged with menace. Titles like No Nukes Love And Peace and Peace Flag signal the quiet activism that runs through his career, while Flashlight Girl and Girl In A Box (2001) place his solitary children in charged, ambiguous situations. These works reward close looking — the more innocent the face, the more complicated the feeling behind it.
Collecting Early Nara
Early works are prized by collectors for documenting the origin of Nara's mature style, and they sit naturally alongside his later lithographs, woodblock prints and editions. Guy Hepner Gallery offers authenticated early Nara works with full provenance documentation. Contact our New York team to discuss current availability and acquisition.
About Yoshitomo Nara
Yoshitomo Nara
Yoshitomo Nara (b. 1959, Hirosaki, Japan) stands as one of the most influential figures in contemporary Japanese art, whose deceptively simple portraits of wide-eyed children—at once innocent and subversively defiant—have become icons of the Neo-Pop movement. Trained in Düsseldorf and deeply influenced by punk rock and anime culture, Nara creates works that resonate across cultural boundaries, commanding an international collector base and record-breaking auction results. His paintings, drawings, and sculptures are held in major museum collections worldwide, cementing his position as a defining voice in 21st-century art.