Takashi Murakami
■Message from our Main Program Artist
Roppongi Art Night was postponed three times. The first time was
at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, then twice more due to the
declarations of states of emergency in Tokyo. I suppose the fourth
time is the charm, in this case, and after two and a half years,
we are finally able to exhibit the balloons created as
collaborations between Doraemon and 13 artists under my curation.
The COVID-19 crisis resulted in countless people harboring pent up
emotions as a result of isolation, and the whole world moved even
further towards a reliance on games and the internet. The chances
for people to interact with Japanese contents, especially manga
and anime, increased dramatically during this time, and I think as
a result it deepened their appreciation for these genres.
Among them, Doraemon is an incredibly important content in Japan
and Asia. The protagonist of the series is decidedly uncool and
shy, and his earless cat-like robot companion helps him along,
though the bashful kid’s various problems are never fully
resolved. But regardless, he would live and laugh along the way… I
believe that this philosophy of life, which is diametrically
opposite from “dreams come true,” embodied within this work
resonates deeply with the people of Asia now.
Just as Mickey Mouse is for America, Doraemon is an iconic
character for Asia. This is why I have been collaborating with
Doraemon as an emblem of Japan, and this time, I reached out to 13
artists in hopes of further developing this collaboration between
Doraemon and Japanese artists.
I am hoping that we will be able to provide some augmented reality
(AR) experiences at several locations as well. At any rate, please
enjoy.
Photo by RK (IG:@rkrkrk)
©︎Takashi Murakami/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. All Rights
Reserved. ©︎Fujiko-Pro
(Profile)
Takashi Murakami
Born in Tokyo in 1962.
The originator and proponent of Superflat theory, which
reconstructs Japanese traditional paintings and the origin of
Japanese contemporary art through visual premises of anime and
manga.
Murakami has created numerous characters including Miss Ko2 and
Mr. DOB that reflect the otaku culture and presents them in the
forms of intentionally kitsch sculptures and acutely
two-dimensional paintings antithetical to the Western
perspective techniques. Murakami’s cultural theory based on
subcultures not only deconstructs the highbrow/lowbrow hierarchy
but critically illustrates the post-World War II Japanese
psychology, establishing a discourse unique to Japan in the
increasingly globalizing art scene. The artist continues to
attract a wide-ranging audience beyond contemporary art through
his multifaceted activities including his collaboration with
Louis Vuitton, Kanye West and Drake and focuses on street
culture and contemporary ceramics.
The final installment of his Superflat trilogy of curated
exhibitions, Little Boy: The Arts of Japan’s Exploding
Subculture (New York, 2005), was awarded The Best Thematic
Museum Show in New York by AICA that year.
His first retrospective, ©MURAKAMI (2007 – 2009) toured four
cities in North America and Europe, starting with the Museum of
Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. He has since been holding major
solo exhibitions around the world, including at the Palace of
Versailles (2010), Al Riwaq Exhibition Hall (Doha, 2012), the
Mori Art Museum (Tokyo, 2015), the Garage Museum of Contemporary
Art (Moscow, 2017), and Tai Kwun Contemporary (Hong Kong, 2019).
In recent years, Murakami has taken on NFTs, releasing his
“Murakami.Flowers” and “CLONE X,” a collaborative project with
RTFKT. He received a Special Achievement award at the Webby
Awards in 2022. He has recently held his solo exhibition, An
Arrow through History, at Gagosian in New York, with the two
worlds of digital and the real as its theme.