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Sunday, May 18, 2008

At the Brooklyn Museum - The Dizzying World of Murakami

Murakami sculpture
Photo by myself, part of a massive Murakami sculpture at the Brooklyn Museum of Art.

The Murakami exhibit is going strong until mid-July at the BMA, located near Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn.

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Mark and I walked through Prospect Park today to the Brooklyn Museum of Art to see the Murakami exhibit that is currently on view.

Takashi Murakami is one of Mark's favorite artists. Recently we saw a television program that showed him fastidiously choosing every color in his large scale murals, in a paint-by-numbers way. If you're not familiar with his art, I'd describe it as playful, colorful and prolific.

Murakami combines cartoon characters, a huge palette of glorious colors, logos and comic book techniques into a dizzying array of work. Sea green topped mushrooms bare their teeth, surrounded by swirls of pinkish orange and coral. In another room, the walls are covered with cartoon eyeballs of different sizes.

For a slide show of the BMA exhibit, click here.

Some of the murals are gigantic, comprised of several panels into works 30 feet long. They are glorious and colorful, often with backgrounds of matte gold or silver. Some of the images resemble patterned wallpaper and was reproduced to cover the galleries from floor to ceiling. There were also incredible sculptures, as well as products on sale, produced for Louis Vuitton.

Recently the exhibit has been heavily advertised on the subway, and I hope parents are warned at the door. Some of the art is for adults only. I can only wonder what some children thought of a couple sculptures with exaggerated anatomical features. Ahem.

In general, the exhibit was fantastic and inspiring. If you're in New York in the next couple months, do make the trek over to the Brooklyn Museum.

Murakami Sculpture

For a the Times review of the exhibit, click here.


Related posts: How to Get From Here to There, and East Side Versus West Side.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey, it looks really inspiring! Bright colors to spice you up a little. And the museum building itself seems to be quite a gemstone.

Carolyn said...

OHHHHHHHH.... I love those purses with the Cherries on it!! Something tells me I wouldn't be able to afford it though!

Carolyn

Kitty said...

Hi Susu
You're right. The overall building is special. It's enormous.

There was a renovation done to it recently that I'm not too keen on. A modern glass space was at the base. It's nice to have all that light, however I find the exterior jarring.

Hi Carolyn
Yes, he did those purses, lol! Some folks were buying purses in the LV shop, which Mark said were $1,000 each, minimum. Eek!

Anonymous said...

I rather like the look of it - I love bright colours (not that I ever wear any!!)

Intrigued by the adult-only sculptures!! I'm sure those would be the highlight for my children!!

JAMJARSUPERSTAR said...

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Mab said...

WOW! Brilliant art work,love the Flower Matango.My oldest son does lots and lots of Japanese anime/manga art,his favoutite artist is Shirow Masamune.I'd really love to see this collection in person though,I think fantastic would be one word to use.

Dana said...

LOVE THIS PIC! The colors, the textures.. just about everything! thanks for posting it :)

Kitty said...

Hi RB
For the less G-rated art, click here. It only comprised 1% of the show.

I'm not sure the content would register for kids. They'd probably be distracted by everything else.

Thanks Jamjar!

Hi Mab
How cool about your son?
The show originated in LA. I'm not sure where it's off to next, if there is a next?

Thanks Dana!

Eva said...

Another Murakami fan here! Lucky you, living so close to the exhibit. I really wish I was in Brooklyn now. I'm glad you visited and enjoyed it :-).

Anonymous said...

The color palettes are so happy!

And although I love purses and always have (there's a photo of me at age 3 squealing with delight over a new pocketbook) spending $1,000 on one would just about make me keel over. And I'd feel extremely guilty putting it down anywhere other than on my lap!

Profile Not Available said...

This looks so bright and cheerful!

Kitty said...

Ah, Eva, you would've enjoyed it. Hopefully the exhibit will travel somewhere near you?

It was a little like opening one of his books and imagining yourself inside, lol.

Hi Spandrel
I have a bag fetish too, but rarely act on it.

The colors were pretty delicious looking, yes, lol.

Hi Kelly, I agree!

fishwithoutbicycle said...

I keep meaning to pop over and see this. Looks like it's well worth the trip :-)

Mom Knows Everything said...

They really do look like cartoonish.

Kitty said...

Hi Fish
Love to know what you think of the exhibit!

Hi Tammy
Yes, it's all fun!