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OCTOBER
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Buddhism.It was perplexingly
titled,at leastfor the uninitiated,"Thanquilityof the Heart,
Torment of the Flesh-Open
rJfidethe Eye of the Heart, and
Nothing Is Invisible."
The seriesis basedon the
decidedlygrotesqueworks of the
Eccentricpainters,an obscure
group of r8th-centuryKyoto-.
a
basedartists,andrepresents
departure
from
stylistic
Murakami's ultrapop mangaworks.
andanime-suffused
Seeingthe picturesin Gagosian's
spaceinitiallymadethis visitor
feelasifhe had accidentally
enteredone of the Metropolitan
Museum'sroomsof ancient
Japaneseart beforereachingthe
contemporarywing. \ffas
ATHED INTHE
BRIGHT
LIGHTS
castby aJapanese
televlslon crew on a
balmyeveningthis past spfuB,
ThkashiMurakami held court
in front of one of his new million-dollarparntingsin the
packedcentralgalleryofLarry
Gagosian'sMadison Avenue
space.YoungAsianhipsters
with skateboardsand cell-phone
recordedthe openingcameras
night actionaselevatorloadsof
art world typesdisembarkedto
takein Murakami'sunexpected
new seriesdepictingDaruma,
the 6th-centuryfatherof Zen
Murakami trying to confusehis
audience?
Announceto the world
that the eraofsuch sexyand
\Westemized
works ashis fiberglasssculpturesHiropon, 1997,
and AIyLonesomeCowboy,
1998,andthe mural-sizeSuper
Noua,1999,wasover?That it
\'
p
ilr
,
,t]
F'j/
T hemi lk -s pewin g
1997,placed
M urak amon
i t he
au cti onm aowhenit
S 427, 500a t
NewYorkin
May2002. ln a coup
the then-untested
artist,Christie'sput
the sculpture,in an
was time for a shift backto the
ancientarts ofJapan,but melded
with the cutting-edge,corporatizedproductionapproachofhis
hero, the Americanfilmmaker
GeorgeLucas?
The moment was classic
Murakami,a kaleidoscope
of
a man who is neverquite one
thing or another,but rather
many things at the sametime. He
deftly playsoffthe twin themes
of high and low culture,moves
effortlesslybetweenartist and
impresarioand presidesover an
guild. lfidely known to leavethe
making of his piecesto a bely
of assistantswho workoffhis
digitizedschemata,Murakami
nonethelessexercisesa fastidious control over all aspects
ofproduction that makeshim a
constant,palpablepresencein
his Kaikai Kiki (meaning"supernatural" or "bizarre") studios
in Tokyo and Long IslandCity,
New York. There his 9o or so
employeescheckin with a fingerscansystem.
Murakami's
Assessing
standingin the art wodd is also
a bit slippery.\7orks by Damien
Hirst andJeffKoonshavesold for
much more:MaurizioCattelan's
conceptualshenaniganshavegarneredmorepublicity;andKeith
Haring's Pop Shopcameearlier.
But no artist working today
matchesMurakami's insatiably
ambitiousoutput, cross-branding
exploits and vigilant defenseof
his rntellectualproperty.Besides
the productionof
overseeing
a staggeringlineof paintings,
sculpturesand multiples,the
45-year-oldartist curatesexhibitions, producesan art festival,
makesanimatedand live-action
filmsandcollaborates
on commercialprojectsrangingfrom the
luxurious handbagshe designed
for Louis Vuitton in zoo3 to this
year'salbumcovers,MTVpromotionsand cross-merchandising
with rap starKanye\West.
Capturing the breadthof
Murakami's world is part of the
aim of "O Murakami,"a major
midcareerretrospectivethat
opensOctoberz8 in Los Angeles
at the Museum of Contemporary
Art beforetravelingto the
BrooklvnMuseum:Museum
fiir Modeme Kunst, Frankfurt;
and the GuggenheimMuseum
Bilbao.It is the most ambitious
effort to dateto chroniclethe
evolution of the artist'sstartling
post-Popstyle,which analytically
and audaciouslymirrors contemporaryJapaneseculture.
"We don't want the businessofMurakami to obscure
Murakami the artist," saysexhibition curator PaulSchimmel,who
hasselected9o works spanning
r5 years,fuomSignboardThkashi,
r99r, a modestlyscaledwork
in plywood and stickersthat
appropriatesthe logo and slogan
toy comof a famousJapanese
pany, to the just-completed Oual
Buddha,a self-portraitmore than
18feethigh that is basedon a
rzth-century sculpture."The circling back that he'sdoing to the
traditionsofJapan-it'snot intuitive," saysSchimmel."[But] it's
reallypart of who he is, where he
beganand where he will always
peopleare
be.Increasingly,
going to understandhow much
more his work is grounded in the
broadesttraditionsofJapan."
DespiteSchimmel'sconcem,it may not be possibleto
separatecommercefrom art
when it comesto Murakami.
As if to underscorethe intricate
intermingling of the two, the LA
MoCA show will featurea Kaikai
Kiki merchandiseshop and a
fully operational,though temporary, Louis Vuitton boutique
sellinglimited-editionaccessoriesdesignedby the artist and
MarcJacobsexclusivelyfor the
museum."Everyonethinks all
thesekinds of ventures-tvl,tH,
what he's dorrg with Kanye
'West-are indication of greed,"
an
saysSchimmel."But from a financial standpoint,I assureyou, for
Murakami, doing a painting is by
far the most efficientway to make
money.There'sa greaterdemand
for his paintingsbecauseof all
theseother things he does."
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monastic,workaholic life. Last
and to battle what he callsJapan's
fall he entertaineda smallgroup
"sans-art-scene
wasteland."He
of joumalistsat the new Kaikai
envisions'bverseas
bases"of
Kiki world headquarters,in the
cErsAr,like the one beingplanned
exclusiveMotoazabusectionof
for Decemberin Miami. asvehiTokyo. (Murakami'soriginal art
clesfor introducingaspiring
compound,in Asaka,an hour's
Japanesearriststo the West.
drive from Tokyo, remainsthe
The strategyof bridging
mainproductioncenter.)Sleek
Eastand'Westcertainlyseemed
asa RichardGluckman-designed to be working that moming in
gallery,the expanseofpale
Tokyo, asRenaultheir and avid
wood, glassand white walls,
contemporary-artcollector
tastefully
accenred
with tatamiJohnny Pigozzibargainedanimat flooring,appearsinvitingly
matedlywith a youngJapanese
hip and minimallycorporate.A
painter for a sprawlingwall
smallexhibition of Kaikai Kiki
n.rural.
Pigozzi'sHawaiianprint
artistsdominatesthe galleryarea, shirt and burly figure clashed
featuringworks by suchrising
picturesquely
with the crowdsof
starsasMr., Chiho Aoshima,Aya otaku- chargedyoungstersspon Thkano,ChinatsuBan,Mahomi
ing costnrnestl.ratimitatedthose
Kunikata,Rei SatoandMurakami of theirfavoritecomic-book
himself.Fanherinsideis a series
of conferencerooms,anima'Westem
tion andproductionstudiosand
eyes,madeMr-rrakami
Murakami'sown spartanoffice/
seemmore a messianic
politibedsit,wherehe often takescatciancampaigningfor an
napson a smallftlton.
art revolutionback
"Eventl.rroughall the
hon.rethantl.rered-hot
success,
he doesn'tgivea hoot
artistand slickmarketer
about any kind oftrappings,"
that most peoplethink
notesBlum & Poe'sTin-rBlur.n.
hin.rto be.
the artist'sLos Angelesdealer
"He caresabout
ar-rd
longtimefriend."He utvests Japan,"saysMarialue
v
everythingbackinto hisprojBoesky,the New York dealer
ects.He hasr.rosavings;he'snot
who represerrted
Murakanri
l.roarding
money."Yet,Blum
for ro yearsand orgar.rized
three
adds,"his levelclfarnbitionis
solo showsbeforehe jumped
endlessand ir.rsatiable."
shipto Gagosian,in zoo6.'.He
Earlierthat day,the strik,
doesn'tcareaboutthe West.,'
ing profileof the ponytailed,
Tlratmightbe a minority
bespectacled
artistloomedon a
view,but Murakanriis,in facr,
giantscreen,like the imageof a
a highlytrainedacaden-ricran
rock staror perhapsOrwell'sBig
steepedin the esotericarr hisrory
Brother,overthe aislesofthe
ofJapan.Born in Tokyo in 1962,
biannualcprsarArt Festival.in a
the youngestsonofa taxi driver
Tokyo conventioncenter.Muraand a traditionalhousewife,
kami hasproducedthe one-day
Murakami for a while followed
eventfor the pastfiveyears,ro
in the conservative
footstepsof
pronroteyoungJapanese
artists
hisolderbrother,Yuji,receiving a docorateinrggr from the
Tokyo National Universityof
Fine Arts andMusic n Nihonga
painting,a latergth-centurystyle
that emphasized
suchtraditional
genres
asseasonal
Japanese
landscapesand historicalscenes
while introducing Westem
perpective,chiaroscuroand
bright colors.Askedat this year's
Baselfairabouthisretum
to creatingworks with deeply
historicalassociations,
Murakami
joked, "Now I'm getting
old, andthat'swhy I go backto
Japanesehistory."
Remarkably,Murakami
jettisonedhishard-wonNihonga
credentials,andin barelyfour
yearsof intenseexperimentation,
he developedtheopening
chapterofhis superslickpost-pop
style.In 1995,GalerieEmmanuel
Perrotin,in Paris,stagedthe
anist'sfirstone-manshow
in theWest,introducinghislarge
helium-filledvinyl chloride
balloonsculpturesdepicting
Mr. oor, a kind of raffishcanoon
characterthat Murakamieventually copyrightedfor his exclusive
use.His first realexposurein New
York camea yearlater,at one
of the earlyGramercyHotelart
fairs (which latermorphedinto
thefumory Show),when Tokyo
dealerTomio Koyamashowcased
someof the artist'ssmalldrawurgsin a tiny hotelroom.
It wasonly in zooz, however,that Murakan-rireceived
significantrecognition,with
a show-appearing initially at
the FondationCartierpour I'art
contemporain,in Paris,andthen
at London'sSerpentine
Gallerythat featureda wildly imaginative,
almosthallucinogenic
installation that literallywallpapered
the
soaringspacewith his
jellyfish-eye
iconography.In May that
'year, Murakami
madea splashon the
auction circuit wl.renHiropon,
his bikini-cladr.r.rannequin
with
supersized
rnilk-spewingbreasts,
wassnatchedup by Chicago
collectorRichardCooperat a
Christie'sNew York daysalefor
a then-record$427,5oo,
nearly
four timesthe high estimate.
The piecewasfeaturedon both
tl-refront and back coversof the
catalogue-ararenrarketing
coup,especially
for an untested
youngerartist."Murakamiperfecdycapturespopularculturein
Japanin the '9os,and hisarr
is an extensionof hisphilosophicalinvestigations,"
saysColorado
philanthropisrKent Logan,one
ofthe artist'searliestand biggest
collectors."That's what drew
me in. There'squitea bit of depth
to hiswork."
Al thoughMurak ami
receaveda doctorate
in N rhongapai nti ng,
a tradi ti onat,19thcentury J apanes e
sty l e,i t di dn' ttak ehi m
l ongto dev el opthe
sexy,post-Popworks,
such as My Lonesome
Cowboy,1998,that
catapultedhim to
internationalfame.
Stillsfrom the 20O6
animatlon Kalkal E Kiki.
IN 2OO1TAKASHIMURAKAMI
THEMANYWORLDSOF MURAKAMI.
ACTIVITIES
ARTINTERPRISE
WHOSE
KAIKAI
KIKI,
THEMULTIFACETED
ESTABLISHED
ANDMERCHANDISE,
INCLUDE
THEPRODUCTION
ANDPROMOTION
OFARTWORK
ANDTHEGENERALMANAGEMENT
THEMANAGEIVENT
ANDSUPPORT
OFYOUNGARTISTS
THERE'S
FESTIVALS.
ANDPUBLIC
PROJECTS
GEISAI
SUCHASTHEONE-DAY
OFEVENTS
FILN/S
FEATURE_LENGTH
ANANIMATION
THATPRODUCES
ALSO
COIV1PONENT
ARTPRODUCTION
Easily
themostlucrative
theworkofthedivisions,
shops
staffedbyhighly
trained
KaikaiKiki
(left)
employees
churnoutartworks
thatsellinprimary
markets
around
theworld.Last
May,
at Gagosian
COLLABORATIONS
Although
KaikaiKikiartproduced
istAyaTakano
for
a
design
series
A 2OO3lnstallatlonin
Rocketeller Center, New York, Wrangler
jeansthis
yearandChiho
futuristic
Aoshima's
0
+
murals
cityscape
weredisplayed
inthe
*n +-ot
London
Underground,
nothing
hascome
Galleryin New
closeto theglobalfrenzy
Coverartfora slngleby
York,
forexample,
sparked
byMurakami's rap star KanveWest,
Strawberry Volce,
Murakami's
newZenwithMarc
collaboration
2OO7,byMr
paintings
themed
sold
Jacobson handbags
outat prices
between
and accessories
for the
million.
andS1.5
Sl million
storied[ouis Vuitton
Morethan30 smaller
and
brand(right).Sofar,
identically
scaled
f lower
projects
threeseparate
paintings
soldoutat
ME R C H A N D IS IN G
using
havebeenlaunched
apiece.
Larry
S100,000
tchotchkes thepatterns
Since'1996,
andcolor
Gagosian
wasreputedly
havebeenan integral
schemes
of Murakami's
soenthusiastic
about
element
oftheKaikai
Kiki fashionista
side,
withthe
Murakamito
his
luring
cashmachine,
spawning artist'sfame-and
of artists,
he
stable
of posta smallindustry
witheach
fees-growing
personally
soldthelion's
Pop
from success.
arty
accessories,
he
Although
MA
N
A
G
E
M
EN
T
share
ofthepaintings
to
pillows
andtowelsto key
doesn'tgeta cutof the
Mr.,
A Murakami
disciple,
hisfavorite
clients.
chains
andsoccerballs
profits,
it isbelieved
that
hadhisinternational
Although
not
(above).Pricesfor the
hasrakedin
Murakami
debutthispastMayat
directly
relatedto this
cutesy
andcuddly
items
"millions
from
of dollars"
Lehmann
Maupin,
inNew
aspect
of theenterprise,
range
from
for
a
small hiseffort,according
53
York,sellinglarge-scale
Murakami's
consistent
badgeto 5800 for a
to a sourcecloseto
paintings
andsculpture
auction
trackrecordof
giantflowercushion.
At
KaikaiKiki.
prices
reaching
pricesand, at
highsix-figure
everypressconference
SH O W MA N S H IP
Similarly,
InParislast
5300,000.
inthecaseofonemuraland
Vuitton's
Heldtwicea yearinTokyo stagedbyMurakami
LVMH,
month,
Chiho
Aoshima's
sizepainting,
million,
S1.1
KaikaiKiki,youcanbe
parent
since2002andaboutto
S40billion
fantasylandscapes
places
himinanelite
sureto frnda goodiebag
run
Miami
company
0y
branch
out
to
the
fall
season
at
opened
clubof secondary-market
in
Bernard
artfairin of thestuffpackaged
art collector
duringthePulse
Galerie
Emmanuel
players.
Asappraised
a distinctive
andmost
to
December,
theGEISAI
Arnault,
declined
pricedfrom
Perrotin,
byLondon-based
Kaikai
Kiki release
likelycollectible
(above)
any
figures
onthe
art
festival
is
to
marketanalyst
ArtTactic, S10,000 S200,000.
shopping
bag.
production
part
Murakami's
revenues
or
a
vital
of
portion
gets
KaikaiKiki
a
"boththeprimaryand
Likemostprivately sizeof thesought-after
campaign
to createan
of thesales'proceeds.
market[for
theauction
held
corporations,
Kaikai bagsandaccessories.
infrastructure
for contemhavebeenand
Murakamil
Kikikeepsitsprofits
poraryart inJapan.So
Theformeraresohotthat
areselling
abovethe
A spokesperson eventoday,frveyears
far,however,
theendeavor secret.
mark,establishS1million
forthecompany
declined aftertheirintroduction,
hasbledredink,with
pricefloor
inga symbolic
or release
to comment
Logan'senthusiasmisn't
universal;somefind Murakami's
aesthetictoo h"ppy, facileand
cute.Nevertheless,his work displaysa complexity and character
that resistsinstant understanding.
" Hiropon is not some simple,
sexed-upsculpture,"saysBoesky.
"That was all about tapping
our vision and catchingour attention. It was just a starting-off
point, and he nevermadeanother
sculpturelike that again."To her,
Murakami "is alwaysro steps
ahead,so nothingis asit seems.
It's all part ofa largerfabricthat
he'sweavingtogether."
That unfettereddnve
got the artist into an embarrassinglogjam earlierthis year.
Through Perrotin,his Parisdealer,
he had taken on a $3.5million
commissionfrom Frenchbillionaireart collectorFrangois
Pinaultto create16 monumental
works basedon rzth-century
picture-scrollpaintings
Japanese
for Pinault'sPalazzoGrassi,in
Venice.T ided " 7z7 z7z Plus,"
the serieswas to be shown this
May, just aheadof the opening
of the zooT VeniceBiennale.But
Murakami was alreadystretched
thin, betweenhavingto complete
new piecesfor the Gagosran
show in Manhattan and coaching Mr., one of his Kaikai Kiki
artists,for his \Westemdebut
at Chelsea'sLehmannMaupin
Gallery that samemonth. As a
result,Murakami, an unabashed
perfectionist,was ableto complete only threeofthe panelsfor
Pinault.Scramblingfor a solution,
he madea documentaryabout the
delayedproject-partly tonguein-cheek,sinceit was chronicling
a minidisaster.He alsodesigned
elaboratedigitizedmock-ups of
the 13unfinishedworks basedon
his preliminarysketches,to go
along with the threecompleted
ones.At the last minute, however,
that plan was rejectedby Prrault
and the chiefcurator of his collection, Alison Gingeras.
"I did my best," Murakami
saidwith a sheepishexpression
duringtheJuneinterviewin
Basel,where he was bivouacked
in a hotel lobby with six assistants.
"But finally, I couldn't finish it.
That'sthe reality!"(Gingerassays
that sheand Pinaulthaveassured
the artist that when the work
is finished,it will be presentedat
thepalazzo.)
Murakami isn't exactly
crestfallen
abouthisversion
in
of death Venice,sinceso many
other projectsarecurrently on
the front and backbumersof his
intemationalenterprise."I was in
Los Angeleslastmonth visiting
my friend Mark Grotjahn,who's
reallyfocusedon hisnext painting, and he doeseverythingby
himself,"saysthe artist,pausing
to consult,in rapid-freJapanese,
with his translatorand Kaikai Kiki
New York director Yuko Sakata
beforetuming backto his guestin
a gustof laughter."Oh, my God,
that'stoo much for me! I don't
know why, but I must do things
for n-rycompany.I needto make
phonecallsor write e-mails.I
want to makepaintingsby myself,
but the reality is, the artist l-rasto
be thinkingabouthispainting
z4 hoursa day,andI can'tdo that.
It's much too complicated!"
Despitehisnonchalantairs
and fitsofnervouslaughterabout
not havingtime to concentrate
on a singlecanvas,Murakami
displaysa Koonsianobsession
with the minutestdetailsof
his works' production. Because
of this compulsion,Blum says,
MocA staffersand his gallery,the
financialbackerof OualBuddha,
fearedit wouldn't be completed
in time. "It was a very grueling
processfor the fabricators,"Blum
explains."I mean,just to do one
little eyeballof the sculpturs he
cansendit backro timesif it's not
exactlvhow he wants it."
Murakami's fussinesswas
evidentduring a tour in May of
studioin
his zz,ooo-square-foot
just
Island
City,
outside
Long
Manhattan.This visitor noticed
a kind of contractor'spunch list
tackedup on a bulletin board in
one of the pristine and minimally
appointedart production rooms.
It wasa staccatoseriesof scolding
memosfromMurakami to his
assistants
abouta paintingin
progress.One ofthem read,"The
resulthasn'tyieldeditselfpositivelybecausetheydon't havethe
to
philosophyinsidethemselves
achievegood results.I'm upset
with the uashipaper andthe silver
leafingon the new paintings."
That kind of micromanag-
a lucrativeuniversearoundhis
artisticvision
computer-aided
Murakami has sought to fulfill
dreams."My talent isn't about
spendinga whole day making
paintingor a sculpture;it's
creating an environment and a
context to make all of those thi
possible,"he says.And,alway
mindful of what that
"My
entails,he observes,
part of the moviesis watching
creditsscroll down at theend."
\ , -.
-_ _ . -_ q ,
ing certainlydoesn'tbring to
mind Andy \Tarhol's freewheeling
Factorydays,which manycriticsandpunditshaveevokedin
Murakami'sbusiness
descnbing
philosophyandart production.
Murakami actuallymuch prefers
the GeorgeLucas/Lucasfilm
model.in which the creative
foundersitsat the helm of his
globalempire,directinga range
thatincludecreating
of activities
visualeffects,licensing,producing
online functionsand evenmanufacturinglimited-editionaction
figures.In the world of Kaikai
Kiki, that part translatesinto offering a line of suchmass-market
itemsaskey chains,mousepads,
stickersets,pillows,bags,towels
and soccerballs.
"I can createsomething
reallynew," saysMurakami, "and
peoplewill say,'\Warhol
copy,'
or somethinglike that. To be
honestwith you, when I started
in this area,I neverknew anything
about Andy IDfarhol.I focused
on GeorgeLucasandthe movie
industry."From readingabout
him in magazinesand watching
his fi.lms,"l leameda lot about the
studio systemand transferredthat
to my art making inJapan."
JustasLucashasfashioned
i
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