Japanese artist/mega-brand teams up with Google to mark the start of summer.
Takashi Murakami hit the big time today with his Google doodle celebrating the first day of summer, and the resulting excitement across Twitter. It's pretty good timing for the world-famous Japanese contemporary artist as he has a solo show opening in London next week – at the Britannia Street branch of the Gagosian Gallery.
The exhibition opens to the public on Tuesday 28th June and advance images suggest that it's an altogether more provocative series of works than the sunny, although still slightly weird, commission for Google. Spindly legged characters with oversized breasts seem the order of the day – something of a volte-face after Murakami's last show with Gagosian consisted of an exploration of death and the symbol of the memento mori.
Takashi Murakami is one of the major figures in contemporary Japanese art. so much so that he is almost a brand in his own right. He invented the Superflat genre of painting, has collaborated with Louis Vuitton, and sells toys, figurines and accessories across the world.
After studying fine art, Murakami began to see traditional forms of Japanese art as out of touch with much of contemporary society. This led to a turn towards Superflat, a style influenced by Warhol and Lichtenstein on the one hand and by Japanese animé on the other.
Like Damien Hirst, Murakami does not actually produce much of his own work. Rather his role now is that of a designer and overseer. Over 100 people work for his company KaiKai Kiki to churn out products across the world.
In 2008, Murakami was the only visual artist to feature in Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People list, and now with help from Google and Twitter, his reputation is cemented across the world.
Takashi Murakami is at Gagosian Gallery, Britannia Street from 28th June until 5th August 2011.
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