Taking advantage of my time off I headed to the Brooklyn Museum for the Takashi Murakami exhibit. Murakami is a Japanese pop artist whose commercial success is in the vein of Keith Haring and Andy Warhol (in my untrained opinion). Murakami's fame grew exponentially after his work with Louis Vuitton. I never could understand why all the fake Louis bags on Canal were so colorful. I used to think, wow, they're not even trying to make them look real anymore. Little did I know! (the connection between artist and brand is so pervasive that a mini Louis store is contained within the exhibit). More recently Murakami created the cover art for Kanye West's album, Graduation.
The exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum covers rooms on the 4th and 5th floors. I recommend starting on the 5th floor. The exhibit features paintings, sculptures, mass produced toys, and huge multi panel murals. The vibrancy and colors of his works, not to mention their abstract, even trippy, patterns, suited me well. Ending with his large murals on the fourth floor capped off a great experience. Less enjoyable were the steep prices for his merchandise in the Museum store including t-shirts selling for $42. Hmmm, I wonder if I can find those shirts on Canal ...
The exhibit costs $10 and runs through June 13th.
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2 comments:
I heard about this artist -- I think he has another store at one of the upscale malls in ATL.
Not for nothing but that painting looks like mickey mouse meets power puff girls.
The exhibits at the museum spoke of his focus on bridging hi and low art. In real life the pieces had a lot of impact despite the cartooney nature.
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