BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//PYVOBJECT//NONSGML Version 1//EN BEGIN:VEVENT UID:events.uid.4850@www.discovernikkei.org DTSTART:20141110T000000Z DTEND:20150117T000000Z DESCRIPTION:<p style="text-align: justify\; ">Opening reception: Monday\, N ovember 10th\, from 6:00 to 8:00pm\n \n <em>To me\, religions are a narrat ive...Natural catastrophes\, earthquakes\, are things caused by nature. S uch chaos is natural\, but we have to make sense of it somehow\, and so w e had to invent these stories. That is what I wanted to paint.</em> \n &m dash\;Takashi Murakami\n \n Gagosian New York is pleased to announce &ldqu o\;In the Land of the Dead\, Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow\,&rdquo\; a major exhibition of new paintings and sculptures by Takashi Murakami.\n \n A lightning rod of cultural dichotomies (high/low\, ancient/modern\, oriental/occidental)\, Murakami believes the artist to be one who perceiv es and limns the borders between worlds. Combining classical techniques w ith the latest technologies\, he moves freely within an ever-expanding fi eld of aesthetic issues and cultural inspirations. Parallel to the dystop ian themes that pervade his work\, he recollects and revitalizes traditio nal narratives of transcendence and enlightenment\, often involving outsi der-savants. Mining religious and secular subjects favored by the so-call ed Japanese &ldquo\;eccentrics&rdquo\; or non-conformist artists of the E arly Modern era commonly considered to be counterparts of the Western Rom antic tradition\, Murakami situates himself within their legacy of bold a nd lively individualism in a manner that is entirely his own and of his t ime.\n\n<p style="text-align: justify\; ">Since the devastating Great Tōh oku Earthquake of 2011\, Murakami has explored Japanese art produced in response to historic natural disasters. For example\, in the aftermath of the Great Asei Edo Earthquake of 1855\, painters such as Kano Kazunobu p ortrayed the five hundred <em>arhats</em> (or <em>rakan</em> )\, the spir itual protectors of the Buddha&rsquo\;s teachings\, as stewards of enligh tenment in dire times. While Kazunobu employed diverse Eastern and Wester n techniques in his vast scroll paintings\, Murakami has created an immer sive installation\, entered through a 56-ton replica of a <em>sanmon</em> (sacred gate)\, of eclectic <em>arhats</em> \; deliquescing clones of his fictional creature Mr. Dob\; and <em>karajishi</em> \, the mythic lions t hat guard Japanese Buddhist temples. Here is a contemporary belief system \, constructed in the wake of disaster\, that merges earlier faiths\, myt hs\, and images into a syncretic spirituality of the artist&rsquo\;s imag ination. In totemic sculptures representing demons\, religious sites\, an d self-portraits\; and paintings that conflate classical Japanese techniq ues with Abstract Expressionist tropes\, science-fiction\, manga\, and Bu ddhist and Shinto imagery\, Murakami investigates the role of faith amid the inexorable transience and trauma of existence.&nbsp\;\n \n <strong>Ta kashi Murakami</strong> was born in 1962 in Tokyo\, and received his BFA\ , MFA and PhD from the Tokyo University of the Arts (formerly the Tokyo N ational University of Fine Arts and Music). He founded the Hiropon factor y in Tokyo in 1996\, which later evolved into Kaikai Kiki\, an art produc tion and art management corporation. In addition to the production and ma rketing of Murakami's art and related work\, Kaikai Kiki functions as a s upportive environment for the fostering of emerging artists. Murakami is also a curator\, a cultural entrepreneur\, and a critical observer of con temporary Japanese society. In 2000\, he organized a paradigmatic exhibit ion of Japanese art titled &ldquo\;Superflat\,&rdquo\; which traced the o rigins of contemporary Japanese visual pop culture in historical Japanese art. He has continued this work in subsequent impactful exhibitions such as &ldquo\;Coloriage&rdquo\; (Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain\ , Paris\, 2002) and &ldquo\;Little Boy: The Art of Japan's Exploding Subc ultures&rdquo\; (Japan Society\, New York\, 2005). In 2011\, he organized the &ldquo\;New Day: Artists for Japan&rdquo\; international charity auc tion at Christie&rsquo\;s New York in response to the 2011 Tōhoku earthqu ake and tsunami.\n\n<p style="text-align: justify\; ">Murakami's major so lo exhibitions include Museum of Contemporary Art\, Tokyo (2001)\; Museum of Fine Arts\, Boston (2001)\; Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain \, Paris (2002)\; Serpentine Gallery\, London (2002)\; and Ch&acirc\;teau de Versailles\, France (2010). The comprehensive survey exhibition &ldqu o\;&copy\; MURAKAMI&rdquo\; opened at Museum of Contemporary Art\, Los An geles in 2007 and traveled to Brooklyn Museum\, New York\; Museum f&uuml\ ;r Moderne Kunst\, Frankfurt\; and Guggenheim Museum\, Bilbao during 2008 &ndash\;09. &ldquo\;Murakami-Ego\,&rdquo\; whose centerpiece was an aston ishing 100 meter painting inspired by the Tōhoku earthquake\, was on vie w in 2012 at the Al Riwaq Hall in Doha\, Qatar. &ldquo\;Takashi Murakami: Arhat Cycle&rdquo\; was presented at Palazzo Reale\, Milan in 2014.\n \n <em>Jellyfish Eyes</em> \, the first in a trilogy of feature films direct ed and produced by Murakami\, debuted in April of 2013 at Los Angeles Cou nty Museum of Art and has screened at museums and cinemas throughout the world.\n\n<p style="text-align: justify\; ">Murakami lives and works in To kyo.\n \n For further information please contact the gallery at <a href="m ailto:newyork@gagosian.com?subject=Takashi%20Murakami">newyork@gagosian.co m</a> or at +1.212.741.1111. All images are subject to copyright. Gallery approval must be granted prior to reproduction.\n\n<p style="text-align: j ustify\; ">Hours Open:\n Tues-Sat 10am-6pm\n DTSTAMP:20240419T203626Z SUMMARY:Takashi Murakami\, "In the Land of the Dead\, Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow" URL:/en/events/2014/11/10/takashi-murakami-in-the-land-of-the-dead-steppi/ END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR