Takashi Murakami

일본 현대 미술과 문화의 상징적인 인물로 여겨지는 무라카미 타카시(b. 1962)는 예술가, 큐레이터, 이론가, 제품 디자이너, 사업가 등 다양한 역할을 넘나들며 그만의 독창적 세계를 확립해왔다. 특히 2000년에 발표한 “슈퍼플랫(Superflat)” 양식은 무라카미의 경력을 통틀어 가장 중요한 예술 개념일 뿐만 아니라, 일본 포스트 모던 미술에 가장 의미 있는 형식으로 평가된다. 슈퍼플랫은 일본 전통 회화 “니혼가”의 정체성으로 일컫는 “평면성”과 만화와 애니메이션에 대한 무라카미의 각별한 애정이 결합되어 탄생된 일본 팝 아트이다. 무라카미는 이 새로운 시각 언어를 통해 제2차 세계대전이 낳은 일본인 특유의 심리와 문화적 특징을 반영할 뿐만 아니라, “저급”미술과 “고급” 미술로 양분된 체계를 허무는데 집중했다. 특히 일본 사회에 만연한 소비문화, 무분별한 서구화, 성 도착 현상 등과 같은 사회 문화적 이슈들을 반영하며 그의 목소리를 드러냈다. 

Mr. DOB, 웃는 꽃, 키티 등 다양한 캐릭터들의 끝없는 반복성을 통해 구축된 그의 독특한 스타일은 세계적으로 가장 사랑받은 예술 형식 중 하나이기도 하다. 무라카미의 세계는 끊임없이 성장하고 있으며 동시대 작가들에게 예술가로서의 태도와 작품 세계에 대해 무궁무진한 영향을 끼치고 있다. 또한 무라카미 타카시는 1996년 도쿄에서 “히로폰 팩토리”로 시작한 미술품 제작 및 예술인 관리 법인인 “카이카이 키키(Kaikai Kiki)”를 운영하고 있다. 

As the most symbolic figure of Japanese contemporary art and culture, Takashi Murakami (b. 1962) has played multiple roles as artist, curator, theorist, product designer, and businessman. In 2000, Murakami introduced the term “Superflat,” which served as the utmost concept of his artistic career as well as the postmodern art movement in Japan. Blending his knowledge and technique with traditional Japanese paintings, “Nihonga,” he promoted the importance of “flatness” in his works and invented a new pop-art style of Superflat that combined his love for manga and anime. Through this new visual language, Murakami not only depicted Japanese’s psychological conditions affected by the World War II, but also suggested there were no borders between “low” and “high” art, or Japan’s otaku culture and fine art.

Establishing a vibrant creative style that is widely celebrated using endless repetitions of his iconic characters including Mr. DOB, smiling flowers, and Kitty, Murakami continues to practice his experiment with diverse flattened forms and influence many contemporary artists. His works along with other emerging Japanese artists are managed by Kaikai Kiki, an art art production and artist management corporation that he launched in 1996. 

Born 1962 in Tokyo, Japan

Lives and works in Tokyo, Japan and New York, USA

Education 

1993  Ph.D., Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, Tokyo, Japan

1988  M.F.A., Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, Tokyo, Japan

1986  B.F.A., Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, Tokyo, Japan

Selected Solo Shows 

2019              

TAKASHI MURAKAMI: MURAKAMI VS MURAKAMI, Tai Kwun Contemporary, Hong Kong

Baka, Perrotin, Paris, France

GYATEI 2, Gagosian, Beverly Hills, USA

MURAKAMI POR MURAKAMI, Instituto Tomie Ohtake, Sao Paulo, Brazil

2018             

In Wonderland, Perrotin, Shanghai, China

AMERICA TOO, Gagosian, Beverly Hills, USA
Change the Rule!, Gagosian, Hong Kong
Heads < - - > Heads, Perrotin, New York, USA
TECHNICOLOR 2 (with Virgil Abloh), Gagosian, Paris, France

future history, Gagosian, Davies Street, London, UK

2017             

Takashi Murakami: The Deep End of the Universe, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, USA

Takashi Murakami: Lineage of Eccentrics (in collaboration with Nobuo Tsuji), Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Boston, USA

Under the Radiation Falls, Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow, Russia  Murakami by Murakami, Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo, Norway Takashi Murakami: The Octopus Eats Its Own Leg, Museum of Contemporary Art

Chicago, Chicago, IL; traveled to the Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada;

the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Fort Worth, USA

2016

Takashi Murakami: Learning the Magic of Painting, Galerie Perrotin, Paris, France

Takashi Murakami's Superflat Collection: From Shōhaku and Rosanjin to Anselm Kiefer, Yokohama Museum of Art, Yokohama, Japan

Selected Group Shows

2019

Japan supernatural, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Australia

2018

IN TUNE WITH THE WORLD, Louis Vuitton Foundation, Paris, France

Bubblewrap, Contemporary Art Museum Kumamoto, Kumamoto, Japan

2017

No Place Like Home, Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel

All Too Human: Bacon, Freud and a Century of Painting Life, Tate Britain, London, UK

2016

Creature. The Broad, Los Angeles, USA

Lunar Attraction, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, USA

NY. Superflat Collection: From Shohaku and Rasanjin to Anselm Kiefer, Yokohama

Museum of Art, Yokohama, Japan

Selected Public Collections

21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan

Bard College Center for Curatorial Studies Museum, Annandale-on-Hudson, USA

Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, USA

Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, USA

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, USA

Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA

PinchukArtCentre, Kiev, Ukraine

Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, USA

Toledo Museum of Art, USA

Queensland Museum, Brisbane, Australia

Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, USA