I’d been completely off social media for nearly nine months by the time I found myself at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. I’d been exhausted from the disturbingly long and compact bus ride, the European walking obsession, and my social battery had found itself in the midst of a power outting amongst my peers. The weather reflected my attitude and washed me into the museum when all I had wanted was the warmth and solace of an empty hotel room. Yoshitomo Nara’s exhibit, grounded on the first floor and pouring out acrylic rays to contrast the eery lighting on the museum, was the first exhibit to greet me.

I hadn’t a clue who Yoshitomo Nara was before this encounter. It came as a surprise to me when I’d finally gone back online and seen mutuals and young adult girls using his paintings as profile pictures and wallpaper. I understood then, the rapidly growing influence that Yoshitomo had on our evolving generation.

At lot of the intrigue in Nara’s distinctive and unique style comes from the lightness of pastels and elusive paint-strokes. The style shares an audience with the coquette, ballet-flat wearing soft girls. In no disrespect, his artist message reminds me a lot of the ‘Hello Kitty Activism’ genre that gained popularity during the Black Lives Matter movement, though I’m sure it’s been prevalent earlier than the mid 2010s. He pairs a childlike and whimsical aesthetic with clearly defined political comments. Instead of violent realistic portrals of war, he opts for written words and suggestive details in his portraits.

Although, anti-war and Anti-imperialism are common themes in his Bilbao exhibition, Yoshitomo is most often referenced for his softer, less-political pieces. This raises the concern of what I deem the “Hello Kitty Activism” where an artists’ messaging is diluted and erased from their artist identity. In the case of Nara Yoshitomo, his non-political pieces are cherry picked and celebrated while his political pieces are ignored and dismissed. How does an artist manage this tension in their artist identity?