Art director, video director and artist, Nagi Noda was active not only in the realms of Japanese advertising and graphic design, but also in fashion and art, the scope of her creativity even reaching beyond Japan’s shores. Three years have now passed since her untimely death in 2008.
Noda never stood stagnant, and she never failed to attract attention – for her unusual worldview combining cuteness and venom; for the overwhelming power conveyed by her works; for her passionate determination to create a world of expression never seen before. Her works had a striking impact on us, and today they remain as fresh as the day they were created.
This exhibition presents an overview of Noda’s representative works in so many realms: her advertising posters and commercials for the likes of Laforet, Nike and Suntory; her CD designs and music videos for musicians including Yuki and Hikaru Utada; her package and book designs, products and fashion work; her artwork; her “hanpanda” mascot character.
For little more than a decade Nagi Noda was an unstoppable creative dynamo. We hope this exhibition will provide an ideal opportunity for many visitors to view and appreciate the vast output of her creative talents.

What Would Nagi Noda Do?

Nagi Noda died on September 7, 2008, a Sunday. I recall how, on hearing that she had died on a Sunday, I had somehow felt her death must have been a lonely one, a thought that left me speechless. Three years have now passed since then.

Nagi was an artist at heart. So when it came about that she would be creating ads as a company job, the people around her—myself included—wondered if she was capable of it. “Advertising isn’t art, you know,” we told her smugly. But she did it, as though scoffing at lesser mortals who possess ordinary powers of imagination. And she was great at it. She created ads with ready ease, never showing any difficulty in separating advertising and art, nor even a trace of bargaining something away in the process.

True geniuses are said to overcome difficulties, even the seemingly most insurmountable obstacles, with total ease and aplomb. Albert Einstein was one. Baseball legend Shigeo Nagashima was another. Nagi Noda must have employed that same secret weapon.

Now an exhibition of her works is to be mounted. In the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami, the mirror has turned its back to us. What scenery do we see now? And what would Nagi Noda do under these circumstances? This exhibition is being mounted to see how she would reply.

Takashi Ando
SUN-AD Co., Ltd.