The Brooklyn Art Museum just recently opened Murakami ending mid July. The show was previously at MOCA in Los Angeles. Takashi Murakami truly has perfected and blurred the distinction from the artist’s statement with packaging the experience into a myriad of products. Controlling the entire process, his vision is synonymous with the Warhol quote from this blog’s front page. Artists inspire and provoke ideas for designers and also result in collaborative projects. Matisse, Sonia Delaunay, Mark Rothko and Raoul Dufy are a few examples of painters that inspire textiles. Murakami unabashadly embraces the commercial potential and incorporates luxury boutiques within the exhibition. Featuring the innovative Louis Vuitton accessory collection he co-designed with Marc Jacobs, the designs literally are merchandised with the canvases that almost become retail performance art.
His work, known for the “Superflat” eye popping Japanese Anime and Manga culture, is represented by tremendous large murals, sculptures and incredible wallpapers creating a surreal environment. The installation is as creative as the work itself by converting the museum’s large spaces to experience Murakami’s imagination. Stylistically very different, the exhibit reminded me of the Italian artist Piero Fornasetti. Decorating everyday objects from home decor to fashion, Fornasetti uses his trompe l’oeil vision to inject humour. In addition to his global boutiques, the product range is retailed in high-end department stores presenting art as fashion.
