Takashi Murakami

The first major U.S. monograph in ten years on Murakami is the definitive survey of the paintings of one of today’s most influential artists. Takashi Murakami (b. 1962), one of contemporary art’s most widely recognized exponents, receives a long-awaited critical consideration in this important volume. Accompanying the first retrospective exhibition devoted solely to Murakami’s paintings, this book traces Murakami’s career from his earliest training to his current studio practice. Where other books address the commercial aspects of Murakami’s work, this is the first serious survey of his work as a painter. Through essays and illustrations— many previously unpublished—it explores the artist’s relationship to the tradition of Japanese painting and his facility in straddling high and low, ancient and modern, Eastern and Western, commercial and high art. New texts address Murakami’s output in the context of postwar Japan, situating the artist in relation to folklore, traditional Japanese painting, the Tokyo art scene in the 1980s and 1990s, and the threat of nuclear annihilation. This richly illustrated volume also includes a detailed biography and exhibition history. Takashi Murakami is a true essential for collectors and fans alike.

A comprehensive volume—overseen by the artist himself—on one of the most renowned living artists today, Takashi Murakami. Takashi Murakami is celebrated the world over for his deft blurring of high and low art. In this volume, accompanying a major exhibition of his work and the first in the Middle East, readers are immersed in the unique way Murakami channels the ecstasy and anxiety of contemporary culture. Conceived by the artist as a self-portrait in the guise of a cartoon, Murakami – Ego illuminates the role of the artist as a cipher and critic of pop phenomena as well as a mirror of global networks of consumerism, interpretation, and exchange. The book features some of the artist’s most celebrated series, including Kaikai Kiki Lots of Faces and Pom and Me. Murakami has conceived of the exhibition itself as a work of art, creating new modes of display that include sculptural pedestals with digital animation, a circus tent that doubles as an indoor cinema, and an impressive 300-foot-long painting, all of which are featured in the book. In addition to an interview by curator Massimiliano Gioni, Murakami will contribute writings on various works.

In 2010 Japanese artist Takashi Murakami filled 15 rooms at the Palace of Versailles with his first major retrospective in France. Across 125 colour plates, this exhibition publication documents the show's 22 manga-inspired works, which included seven new sculptures never before exhibited. The book also includes production sketches, maquettes, models, and production photos of works in construction in Murakami's studio.

The lineage of the "superflat" Murakami's vision of the Japanese aesthetic Takashi Murakami's irreverent, pop culture-infused art has made him one of the most recognized Japanese artists today. His bright, contemporary boisterousness, however, belies his deep scholarship and engagement with traditional Japanese art. Takashi Murakami: Lineage of Eccentrics presents key examples of Murakami's work alongside a rich selection of Japanese masterpieces spanning several centuries and arranged here according to concepts laid out by his mentor and foil, leading Japanese art historian Nobuo Tsuji. These include works by Kawanabe Kyosai, Soga Shohaku, Kano Eino, Ito Jakuchu and Hishikawa Moronobu. Beautifully illustrated with Tsuji's selections from the peerless Japanese art collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, as well as some of the artist's best-known works of painting and sculpture, the combination of old and new in this groundbreaking volume enriches our understanding of each, and ultimately shows us how contemporary art can be seen as part of a continuum or lineage. Takashi Murakami (born 1962) is an internationally acclaimed artist and the founder and president of Kaikai Kiki, an art production and management company based in Tokyo with a studio in New York City. He was the first person to earn a PhD in Nihonga--a form of Japanese paintings created using traditional materials and techniques--at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. Over the last two decades, he has presented numerous exhibitions around the world, from Versailles to Qatar. His first major solo exhibition at a US museum was held in 2001 at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, titled Takashi Murakami: Made in Japan. Murakami is well known for his corporate branding projects with Louis Vuitton, VANS, shu uemura, Issey Miyake, Lucien Pellat-Finet, Roppongi Hills and ComplexCon, as well as collaborations with musicians such as Kanye West and Pharrell Williams. In 2008, he was selected as one of TIME magazine's "100 Most Influential People." More recently, he has been working on film and animation productions, releasing his first live-action film, Jellyfish Eyes, in 2013 and an animated television series, 6HP (Six Hearts Princess), in 2017.

Key paintings and sculptures from Japan's great master of the superflat Focusing on one of Murakami's largest and most important works, In the Land of the Dead, Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow (2014), this book offers a lavish introduction to the work of one of Japan's greatest artists. This publication provides a broad overview of Murakami's practice and features 12 works from The Broad's substantial collection of Murakami's work, including his early sculpture DOB in the Strange Forest (Blue DOB) (1999), Flower Matango (b) (2001-6) and such notable later paintings and drawings as Hustle'n'Punch by Kaikai And Kiki (2009), Of Chinese Lions, Peonies, Skulls, and Fountains (2011) and Tan Tan Bo a.k.a. Gerotan: Scorched by the Blaze in the Purgatory of Knowledge (2018). The main essay by Ed Schad is presented along with studio photography, archival material and illuminating illustrations of Murakami works from around Los Angeles and the world. Notably, the volume features a conversation between Murakami and designer Virgil Abloh on making art during times of crisis and in the wake of global events such as the 2011 tsunami in Japan and the global COVID-19 epidemic of 2020 and beyond. Takashi Murakami was born in Tokyo in 1962 and received his BFA, MFA and PhD from the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. His work has been exhibited in prestigious museums all over the world.

In conjunction with the first major retrospective of his work, "Murakami" traces artist Takashi Murakamis global impact socially, culturally, and historically. Representing output from original works of art to mass-produced multiples, the volume also considers the implications of his working methods within the tradition of the Western avant-garde.Rizzoli

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