On Friday night, we stopped by the opening of famed Japanese artist and Juxtapoz cover artist, Yoshitomo Nara's newest body of work at Pace Gallery. Featuring his iconic girl characters, presented in sculpture, painting, and sketches, all spaced wonderfully in three large rooms, Nara continues to be one of the most appreciated contemporary artist in the world.

Getting things for free is always fun, and its always fun to get things for free that go to a good political cause/protest. Iconic Japanese artist, Yoshitomo Nara (a 2x Juxtapoz cover artist), has granted his fans the opportunity to download his NO NUKES girl work and use it in protest of the Japanese governments decision to restart two nuclear reactors at the Oi power plant in Fukui Prefecture.

We have been fans of Japan's Hideaki Kawashima for years, and his standout exhibition, Turning, at Richard Heller Gallery last year had some stunning works. Of course, when we read that the artist had studied under Nara for a few years and had also spent a two years as a Buddhist monk, the intense and focused serenity and influence in the works made us enjoy Kawashima even more.

From Chronicle Books comes "Yoshitomo Nara: The Complete Works," a set of two 400-page hardcover books featuring a full catalog of more than 4,5000 works spanning the artist's entire career, and essays and contributions from his peers as well as Nara himself.

We received a nice message today from Takashi Murakami's Kaikai Kiki Co in advance of their benefit auction with Christie's for the victims of Japan’s Tohoku-Pacific Earthquake. The benefit will include artists such as Damien Hirst, KAWS, Jeff Koons, Mr., Murakami, Yoshitomo Nara, Gabriel Orozco, Aya Takano, Luc Tuymans, and many others.