In Japan, there is no high and there is no low. It’s all flat.
—Takashi Murakami
Marianne Boesky Gallery is pleased to announce a new exhibition by internationally acclaimed artist Takashi Murakami. Mushroom, a new suite of paintings, further expounds on Murakami’s idea of Superflat, an emergent trend in Japanese contemporary art he has notably presented in his curated group shows (Superflat is currently on view at LA MOCA’s Pacific Design Center through May 27). Murakami believes Japan’s new art to be continually influenced by a technology-saturated world centered around animation, hi-tech computer imagery, and other graphic arts, while remaining anchored in traditional Japanese artistic history. In his own work, Murakami adds elements from Japanese pop culture’s manga and anime to his traditional training in nihanga painting—to result in this Superflat style.
In this new group of paintings, Murakami returns to brightly colored flowers and mushrooms flattened against silver grounds reminiscent of the golden screens found throughout the centuries in Japanese art. Images of seemingly benign mushrooms and flowers develop alternate personalities with the addition of facial features, allowing their symbolism to run the gamut from harmless to villainous. Working with the strength of the drawn line, long paramount in Japanese art, Murakami successfully leads the viewer’s gaze through his dynamic, yet balanced, asymmetrical compositions.
*A sculpture installation by Murakami entitled wink is also currently on view in Grand Central Station’s Vanderbilt Hall. In collaboration with Creative Time and the MTA, this project consists of two new floor sculptures and three monumental balloons.