Yusuke Toda Yum and Friends For Sale
Yusuke Toda
Yum and Friends, 2023
Acrylic and oil stick on canvas
25 5/8 x 25 5/8 in 65 x 65 cm
About this work
Yusuke Toda's "Yum and Friends" presents a vibrant gathering of the artist's beloved characters in his signature style of playful exuberance. Rendered in acrylic and oil stick on canvas, the work showcases Toda's distinctive approach to mark-making, where gestural strokes and bold color choices create a sense of spontaneous energy. The composition brings together Yum and the artist's cast of recurring companions, their rounded forms and expressive faces occupying the square canvas with cheerful immediacy. Toda's palette bursts with saturated hues—likely featuring the candy-bright pinks, electric blues, and sunny yellows that characterize his practice—while the oil stick application adds textural dimension and an almost childlike directness to the imagery. The figures appear to exist in a state of perpetual celebration, their simplified features conveying pure, uncomplicated joy. There is an infectious optimism radiating from the canvas, a quality that has made Toda's work resonate with collectors seeking art that offers genuine emotional warmth without irony or cynicism. Within Toda's broader practice, "Yum and Friends" exemplifies his commitment to creating visual worlds where imagination reigns and happiness feels both accessible and sincere. His characters have become ambassadors of positivity, their repeated appearances across his oeuvre building a narrative universe that viewers can enter and inhabit. The modest yet confident scale of this work allows for intimate engagement, inviting close looking while maintaining the bold graphic impact that defines Toda's aesthetic. For inquiries regarding the acquisition of "Yum and Friends," please contact Guy Hepner gallery in New York.
Price on Application
Edition & Provenance
- Year
- 2023
- Medium
- Acrylic and oil stick on canvas

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About Yusuke Toda
Yusuke Toda is a Tokyo based painter who studied oil painting at Tama University before working as an assistant to Takashi Murakami, and later to painter Tomokazu Matsuyama, experiences that shaped his technical approach and expressive style.
Toda's work centers on a recurring character, YUM, a monochromatic figure whose world is defined by black and white settings punctuated with bursts of color. Through YUM, Toda explores universal emotional territory, joy, nostalgia, loneliness, and connection, using a deceptively simple visual language to carry more complex feeling underneath. His process begins with hand-drawn sketches, allowing spontaneous ideas to guide the composition before he builds up bold outlines and layered color.
Drawing on Japanese manga, street culture, and the pop lineage established by artists like Murakami and Yoshitomo Nara, Toda has developed a distinct visual world that also reflects the energy of Tokyo itself, its motion, neon, and layered cultural identity. His paintings function as a kind of parallel universe, blending humor and tenderness while inviting viewers to reconnect with a more imaginative, unguarded way of seeing.
Toda has held numerous sold-out exhibitions across Tokyo, China, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Taiwan, and made his American debut with a solo show at Morton Contemporary.
Guy Hepner works with collectors seeking Yusuke Toda's playful, emotionally resonant paintings centered on his character YUM. Contact us to discuss available inventory or to inquire about upcoming releases.
