"TADANORI YOKOO - Tadanori Yokoo New Works Exhibition: “Now and Then” (Laforet Harajuku)", Japanese Contemporary Art Poster, Original Offset 1996, Ultra Rare, Size (c.73 x 103cm)

This is an original Japanese offset poster printed in 1996. This poster is ultra rare and is displayed in the world`s most prestigious galleries such as MoMA in New York City. It is very difficult / almost impossible to find in any condition.

Japan Poster Shop has acquired a substantial and unique collection of original Tadanori Yokoo posters from one of the most prolific collectors in Japan. This individual has a very colorful life story, having invested and dedicated many decades to his love for Tadanori Yokoo`s vibrant designs. 

This is an original B1 offset poster created for the Tadanori Yokoo New Works Exhibition: “Now and Then”, held in 1996 at the Laforet Museum in Harajuku, Tokyo. Bursting with surreal symbolism, political critique, and Yokoo’s trademark psychedelic palette, this piece serves as both a promotional poster and a self-contained artwork.

Radiating yellow beams connect a spinning globe to historical, fantastical, and mythic imagery—lions, samurai, soldiers, turtles, and musical instruments—all converging under a rising sun motif. The two kanji placed at the top and bottom, 今 (Now) and 昔 (Then), encapsulate the show’s central theme: the interplay between past and present.

Yokoo’s collage-like composition merges pop art, nationalism, religion, war memory, and futurism in a single explosive tableau. The vertical pink and green blocks reading "YOKOO" and "TADANORI" frame the piece with bold graphic energy, while the Made in Japan mark and retro-modern aesthetic reinforce the artist’s meditations on identity and cultural legacy.

Printed in vivid color and marked TADANORI YOKOO 1996 in plate, this poster is an outstanding example of postwar Japanese graphic art—ideal for collectors of contemporary Japanese design and fans of Yokoo’s radical visual language.

Yokoo is a celebrated graphic designer whose iconic posters and album covers for artists like The Beatles, Miles Davis, and Carlos Santana left a lasting impact on global pop culture. His psychedelic designs blended traditional Japanese elements with influences from Pop art, Surrealism, and American graphic design, foreshadowing the poster styles of 1960s San Francisco. Yokoo’s work was featured alongside artists such as Frank Stella and Andy Warhol in the 1968 MoMA exhibition "Word and Image." Known for pushing visual boundaries, he provocatively incorporated symbols of Japanese imperialism — such as the rising sun, Mount Fuji, and bullet trains — often juxtaposing them with crude or controversial imagery. His graphic style was rooted in Japanese ukiyo-e printmaking and collage, and a transformative journey to India deepened his fascination with mysticism, inspiring his use of Buddhist symbolism in his art.

Please refer to the imagery (both front and back) as this is the exact poster that is for sale. 

It is over 29 years old!

It is not a reproduction or a reprint.

Certificate of Authenticity included.