We walked at the rainy Gorky park where Garage is now located.
All the way to Murakami’s “Under the Radiation Falls” exhibition.
Takashi Murakami (b. 1962, Tokyo, Japan) lives and works in Tokyo and New York.
Presenting his work in the broader context of Japanese culture for the first time, the exhibition paid homage to Murakami’s long-term project to creatively unite and question Eastern and Western traditions.
The exhibition consists of five sections:
Geijutsu (芸術, Learning and Technique); The Little Boy and the Fat Man (the symbolism of August 1945 and the ways in which the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings transformed Japanese visual culture after the war;
Kawaii (カワイイ), explores the intersections between Murakami’s work and the aesthetics of kawaii (cuteness), which is an integral part of contemporary Japanese culture;
Sutajio (スタジオ), examines the structure of Murakami’s studio. The exhibition includes a recreation of part of his “factory,” in which the artist’s assistants worked during the installation of the exhibition;
The “phantom chapter,” Asobi & Kazari (遊び & 飾り), is spread across the Museum’s non-exhibition spaces, demonstrating the playful aspect of Murakami’s work and his interest in decoration and patterns of Japanese tradition.
Each explore a particular phenomenon in Japanese culture
