Doors

Doors was originally part of the exhibition “Yoshitomo Nara + graf: A to Z” (2006) in Nara’s hometown of Hirosaki in Aomori Prefecture. It is reinstalled at Asia Society for the first time since the original presentation. That 2006 exhibition included twenty-six house-like installations—one for each letter of the English alphabet—with the letter D represented by Doors, a reference to the rock band of the same name. The structure is horizontally long with five doors opening to five small rooms along its length. With this installation, Nara also tips his hat to the band Green Day, whose punk-revival music has been an inspiration for him since their debut in 1987. Two rooms in Doors are filled with drawings that refer to the band, and a note that Green Day front man Billie Joe Armstrong wrote to Nara in 2004 is tucked into one of the doors.

This photograph shows the first presentation of Doors in 2006. Check back soon to see photographs of this installation adapted for Asia Society Museum’s galleries.