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Tag: Takashi Murakami

Takashi Murakami's often provacative works- which touch upon issues relating to high art and subculture, Japan's defeat in World War II, the relationship between Japan and the US, contemporary art and Japanese art, as well as art and capitalism, while also taking into account political, cultural, and historical contexts- have greatly expanded the domain of international contemporary art. Comprising his historically monumental "The 500 Arhats" and numerous new works, his exhibition at the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo focuses on the present state of Murakami's career.
Japanese artist and founder of Superflat, Takashi Murakami, has taken over four venues in Ibiza, Spain for his latest exhibition: Art Projects Ibiza, Lune Rouge Ibiza, the Ibiza Gran Hotel, and restaurant and performance space HEART Ibiza. His presence there coincides with the opening of Lune Rouge Ibiza, the collection of Guy Laliberté, the Canadian philanthropist perhaps best known as the CEO of Cirque du Soleil. The artist will have a selection of older work on display at the Lune Rouge dating back to his "Arhat" series (covered here), including his massive 32-foot long painting "69 Arhat's "Beneath the Bodhi Tree" (2013). The series was notable for its introduction of more historical Japanese art motifs in Murakami's works, some of which can be found at Laliberté's Casino de Ibiza.
You may recognize the fantastical work of Chiho Aoshima as part of the artist's collective KaiKai Kiki, home to previously featured artists like Mr. and Aya Takano. Opening today, the Seattle Art Museum, in cooperation with Blum and Poe, tells the story of Aoshima's creative journey with "Rebirth of the World". It begins 10 years ago, when she quit her job as a member of iconic Japanese artist Takashi Murakami's design team after her own career took off. Her museum debut, the exhibition takes us from her earliest pieces to 35 new drawings on paper, large-scale prints on plexiglass, and a never before seen animation.
Back in 2012, latex artist Saeborg (pronounced Cyborg) announced that his dream was to make an entire farm made of rubber. His current show at Tomonotsu Museum in Hirsoshima, Japan realizes that vision.  It was previously shown at Takashi Murakami's Zingaro space in Nakano, a mecca for comics, toys and cosplay- Saeborg's inspiration. 
Japanese artist known as Mr., a member of Takashi Murakami's Kaikai Kiki collective, earned worldwide attention by directing the music video for Pharrell Williams' "It Girl". His vibrant, Pop Art-inspired paintings of Anime characters and graffiti elements have been likened to "the display in one's dirty bedroom." On November 22nd, Seattle Museum of Art's Asian Art Museum will present his first major museum retrospective in the United States. As a full retrospective of Mr.'s career, the exhibit will include his early paintings and drawings, and film work, to a new series of paintings created for the show.
Relatively new to New York's Chelsea gallery scene, B2OA recently debuted the highly saturated and frenetic paintings of Kazuki Umezawa. His exhibition "Empty god CORE" which opened last Thursday evening, was notably the multi-disciplinary artist's first in the United States. His large scale paintings may look digitally Photoshopped, however they are hand painted and intensely planned collages- Umezawa's reimaginings of modern day Japan, created by intricately cut and carefully placed paper images, combined with original drawings.
Lauded as the founder of Superflat, Takashi Murakami has built a veritable empire on his instantly-recognizable aesthetic. Brightly-colored, loud and repetitive, his paintings and sculptures have made waves in the art world and their creator has gained notoriety for his sky-high auction prices and flamboyant, showman-like public persona. Murakami recently opened "Arhat Cycle Part II" at the historical Palazzo Reale in Milan, a follow-up to 2013's "Arhat" at Blum & Poe in LA (see our coverage here).

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