Superflat Bridge (Takashi Murakami)

The Superflat Bridge

by Lassla Esquivel Durand

Warwick Number: 1390091

Submitted in part fulfilment for the degree of Postgraduate Diploma

in History and Business of the contemporary art market

IESA/University of Warwick

April 2014

Word count: 3636

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Takashi Murakami is a prolific contemporary Japanese artist that has become

an iconic figure in the Contemporary History of Art. He is very controversial and has

been devoured by art critics, art historians, media and non-specialised audiences. This

has happened with positive or pejorative intentions likewise, numerous times. His

work was rejected at the beginning of his career by the critics in Japan and is still

being under the umbrella of scepticism. In the Western world, his works have also

been severely criticised as he merges his Art1 with other different spheres such as

fashion, pop culture and merchandising, etc. Nowadays, his economic success and

artistic recognition precedes any kind of argument about his relevance within the

Contemporary Art scene.

There is ample literature examining Takashi Murakami's trajectory as his

persona and body of work can be analyse from very different points of

view. However, the aim of this paper is to establish the key elements that have led to

the development and flourish of his career.

First of all, this essay will address the versatility of Murakami's works, as they

can be labelled under diverse fields. To prove this point, articles by journalists such as

Carol Vogel and Morgan Falconer have been used, who work for specialised or well-

respected media that question the positioning of Takashi Murakami's work as well as

how it moves among diverse spheres.

Secondly, the intention and content of his production will also be examined.

The artist has extensively discussed the topics depicted in his work in a number of

interviews, essays and other statements. Several art professionals, such as Sarah

Thornton, Arthur Lobow, Jeff Howe and Roberta Smith, have also made analysis of

                                                                                                               1  Considering  Art  with  capital  letter  as  anything  exclusive  to  the  high  arts  spectrum.      

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the aesthetical and intellectual content of his work. All this points of view will be

taken into consideration when developing the arguments of this essay. However, the

length of this paper does not permit an in-depth analysis of his work, but instead it

serves the purpose of merely framing the evolution of his career. Due to the large

amount of literature available, the sources used have been selected in terms of the

degree of relevance for the purpose of the present review. Thirdly, a revision of the

actual agents involved in the development of his career will also be undertaken. These

agents represent the connection between his marketing strategies, his relationship with

other art professionals and art institutions across the globe. Therefore, taking into

consideration the interviews with curators, fashion designers, artists and art

professionals that have collaborated with Murakami is crucial to understand the

interrelation between the agents. This section will also include the analytical

approaches of dissertations and more theoretical views that are necessary to have a

complete perspective of the evolving and perception of Murakami's actions both

within the art world and outside this field. In order to shed some light in the processes

inside the art market, the study of celebrity culture and the mass reproduction

theories, authors such as Benjamin, Stallabrass, Graw, Bain, Giuffre, Hess were also

consulted. These materials were useful to understand how Murakami have moved

amongst the different operative devices of the art world and its practices.

Consequently, Takashi Murakami's trajectory is presented as a group of

endeavours that have contributed to be able to comprehend his artistic career as the

bridge between different scopes like fashion, art and pop culture. Thus, he conceives

himself as the main connection between ancient and contemporary Japan.

Nevertheless, the most relevant matter in this analysis is to question why his work can

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be part of a museum's exhibition and at the same time be in the display of a boutique

in Champs Elysees.

Artist, Fashionist, Celebrity. His career and the place of his work.

Today art is inevitably mediatised and we must take into consideration that

‘our fine arts were developed, their types and uses were established, in times very

different from the present’.2 Nowadays, there are many different conceptions about

what art is. ‘Everything was feasible. Anything went, leaving it uncertain whether a

definition of art is any longer possible. Anything cannot be art’.3 The current digital

media era has opened unaccountable opportunities for diverse ways of making art.

Diverse niches have emerged giving opportunity to new practices and merges of them

which boundaries are not always clear.

Takashi Murakami is a sharp art entrepreneur, which has engaged in many

artistic and non-artistic endeavours that have granted him public recognition and

visibility. He has taken advantage of new art practices that are interrelated and,

therefore, their boundaries are are not necessarily distinguishable in their boundaries.

The diversity of people that consider his work as an essential part of the international

contemporary art concerns are key in the development of his career. His work moves

between divergent domains and this makes it hard to establish under which frame

lines he and his work should be observed. The implications of his work reach social,

historical, cultural, and economic arguments. The vast universe that Murakami depicts

grows exponentially as his methodology replicates in an excellent well-managed

studio that will be reviewed later in this paper –Kaikai Kiki.

                                                                                                               2 Paul Valéry, Pièces sur l'art, in Benjamin,  Walter.  The  Work  of  Art  in  the  Age  of  Mechanical  Reproduction.  (Translated:  J.  A.  Underwood.    London:  Penguin  Books,  1973).  p.  1 3 Arthur Danto. What Art is? (London: Yale University Press, 2013). p. xii.

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First, the cult art, or so-called high arts realm claims that Murakami is one of

their representative international contemporary artists. Arguably, his artistic

production fulfils the elements to be part of a committed and serious contemporary art

practice. He accomplishes high standards in terms of manufacture, mixing traditional

and new media, experimenting and proposing aesthetical qualities in a consistent

methodology and a theoretical discourse behind it. His PhD and traditional fine art

educational background support these aspects. Moreover, the large approval and reach

of different kind of audiences achieved by his work also contributes to this

acknowledgement. However, this perception is not unanimous, as his body of work

also has been criticised as a result of the vain consumer and pop culture of the

twentieth first century.

On the other hand, there is a subculture in Japan that is closely intertwined

with Murakami's production: otaku. This term refers to what is considered a social

movement that revolves around fanatics of animated movies (anime), comic books

(manga) and sexually suggestive figure models.4. They interact and live under their

own codes. Murakami states that his artistic forms are way by the analysis,

rediscovery and reinterpretation of this strong Japanese trend. Its formal language

usually conveys human-like figures with great charge of sexual fetishism. Their

sexual characteristics are exaggerated till the absurd –eliminating the presence of

genitals or any pubic hair. These features are top up with kawaii, another term, which

implies extreme cuteness in all its characters. Under these parameters, Murakami

creates his own characters that have starred his major blockbusters, in both the art and

fashion world. 'For two years, Murakami researched the concept and execution of

Miss Ko2 (Fig. 1)(pronounced 'ko-ko'), the sculpture that would eventually fascinate

                                                                                                               4  Arthur  Lubow.  'The  Murakami  Method',  New  York  Times  03/04  (2005)  

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Western collectors and set a record at Christie's New York.'5 Another success in this

character creations was 'in 1999, at an otaku festival, Murakami released Second

Mission Project Ko2, (Fig. 2) a three-piece sculptural installation that depicts a

favorite otaku theme -- a young woman morphing into an airplane. Triumphantly,

both art critics and otaku praised it'6.

For Murakami this language brings him closer to his intellectual eagerness to

contribute in the cultural international contemporary scene. He found in otaku the

themes that have been pushed aside by censorship and oppression –such as the atomic

bomb and city massive destructions– of Japan post-war during the years of the

American occupation. Otaku shows the outrageous of war in an open and

straightforward way. However, it was entitled to prevail as it was in disguise. Its

language employs childish and bright, flat colourful figures that enclose the grotesque

and sexual distorted content of what were banned, before and now, with indifference.

Otaku has been segregated as an untrustworthy cultural Japanese expression. This

caught Murakami's attention and he has engaged with it. He has revaluate and

appropriate its pictorial language and social codes in order to achieve Japaneseness, as

he calls it himself in his body of work. 'Big breast sculpture, Hiropon (Fig. 3), a

painted fiberglass work completed in 1997 of a blue-haired girl with gargantuan

breasts from which milk gushes in such abundance that the flow encircles her body

like a skipping rope.'7 He aimed to awake Japanese people from their slumber of

consumerism and westernisation. Presumably, his sympathy, and even affection, for

otaku subculture place his practice within the scope of pop culture.

This allegation might bring back a parallel with his predecessor Andy Warhol

who adopted the disseminated life style of a consumerism society. However, the                                                                                                                5  Arthur  Lubow.  'The  Murakami  Method',  New  York  Times  03/04  (2005).  6  Ibid.    7  Sarah  Thornton. Seven days in the art world. (New York: W.W. Norton, 2008.). p. 200  

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evident reference is assertive, although it should be kept in its own proportions.

Takashi Murakami embraces the pop culture of his own time –otaku– as an influence

and motivation. However 'the disparate and often confusing origins of otaku culture,

both figuratively and symbolically, corresponds to the self-image of postwar Japanese

arts and culture under the heavy influence of America'8. Concerning the consumerist

society, he does not employ it as a target or depiction –like Warhol did– but as a

vehicle. The contrast within their methodology might be identified especially in their

Eastern and Western origins respectively. Warhol's means were intended to bring the

pop culture within the scope of cult art. He challenged the established parameters for

the art world and its sacralised spaces. His legacy, although perennial, reach the

market when the 'success in it meant cultural relevance'9 or his famous fifteen minutes

of fame.

Murakami has a different paradigm. He trespasses realms without the intention

to be deceitful. In Japan the merge is inherent. The difference between high arts and

low arts in Eastern tradition is almost imperceptible if non-existent. 'The Japanese

language didn't even have a word for 'fine art' in 1868, when Japan embraced the

West in the Meiji Restoration; only afterward did the country import this foreign 'art'

notion and create a vocabulary for it. The blurring of high and low remains

characteristic of Japanese society'10. His way to distribute art was not exclusive to art

institutions. The possibility to collaborate with big names of brands or personalities of

other fields with large reach of audiences or marketing programmes was immanent,

and mostly viable as he arrived to the Western market. His arrival and

acknowledgement into this market has implications.

                                                                                                               8  Dong-Yeon KOH, 'Murakami’s ‘little boy’ syndrome: victim or aggressor in contemporary Japanese and American arts?' in Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, Volume 11, Number 3, (2010).  9  Isabelle Graw. High Price. Art Between the Market and Celebrity Culture. (Berlin-New York: Sternberg Press, 2009). p. 21.  10  Arthur  Lubow.  'The  Murakami  Method',  New  York  Times  03/04  (2005).    

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The positioning and so-called aggressive marketing strategies.

Murakami was educated in Tokyo and earned a PhD specialising in Nihonga11

(Fig. 4). This was influential for the later development of his pictorial language and

within his ventures as a theoretic 12 . Later, this also will assort him with a

distinguishable Japanese characteristic that will make him outstand within Western

circles. His aspirations were continuously growing as he realised that the Japan he

was living then, had no market and his thrive of innovating and experimenting was

not going to be fruitful nor outstanding. His yearn pushed him into reconsidering his

geographical position and the strategy he had to configure to accomplish a place

among the international art market.

His first effort was to position himself in the Western art scene and market

where the urge to discover new talents was emerging. This allowed him to reach new

audiences and being able to have contact with what nowadays is known as the

celebrity culture. However, he had to be conscious about the risk of becoming only a

celebrity and not accomplishing the dichotomy of the artist-celebrity. 'The celebrity

culture tends towards a personalization of everything and everyone, artworks

mutating into subjects. Furthermore, the figure of the legendary artist can be seen as

the original model on which the celebrity is based –with one key difference: unlike

                                                                                                               11  Nihonga is a fusion of Japanese and Western artistic approaches that developed in the late nineteenth century. Cited from The Museum of Modern Art, MoMA Highlights since 1980, (New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 2007) p. 155. 12  He made a theory about Superflat as a pictorial language in the frame of his blockbuster exhibition Superflat curated by himself in MoCA LA. He also coined the term Poku a neologism due to the combination of American Pop art and otaku, as part of his theory. For further reference Takashi Murakami. Superflat. Catalogue of the exhibition. (2000) and Dong-Yeon KOH, 'Murakami’s ‘little boy’ syndrome: victim or aggressor in contemporary Japanese and American arts?' in Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, Volume 11, Number 3, (2010).

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the celebrity, the fine artist has a product that circulates independently of his person'13

Murakami's artworks posses the ability to perform as a orchestra in conjunction and at

the same time can stand by themselves as a sharp statement on its own.

He was immersed into the commercial market and used it wisely for the

dissemination of his work. He made relevant alliances promptly after his arrival.

Emmanuelle Perrotin was crucial for his positioning in the commercial plane. His first

monographic exhibition outside Japan was in 1995 at Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin in

Paris. The union of Perrotin and Murakami led to many fruitful projects, which gained

them recognition in the art scene. Amongst their joint efforts in many ventures, the

most relevant is the exhibition of Murakami's artworks in Palace de Versaille. Later

on, Murakami's alliances expanded and Larry Gagosian, Poe & Blum were summed.

His subsequent collaboration with Marc Jacobs was essential for his great entrance to

the fashion world. In all terrains, Murakami was careful in the standards and

consistency of his production. He was respectful and sharp to take the best of all the

spans he was reaching and merge them wisely in one body of work. One that fulfils

the art world standards and simultaneously could please every 'consumer' with his

forms in the various formats they might appear. 'Nowadays an artist is by no means an

aimless dreamer. [Murakami] changes [his] direction or continue in same direction by

seeing people’s reaction [...] [his] concentration is how to survive long-term and how

to join with the contemporary feeling, work by trial and error to be popular.'14

Some media and art specialists have harshly judged Murakami for his

aggressive marketing tactics. Furthermore, his engaging with the entertainment

industry has been out casted. However, some others have agreed that 'Murakami's

                                                                                                               13  Isabelle Graw. High Price. Art Between the Market and Celebrity Culture. (Berlin-New York: Sternberg Press, 2009). p. 15  14 Sarah  Thornton. Seven days in the art world. (New York: W.W. Norton, 2008.). p. 198

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work celebrates commerce, and commerce returns the favor'.15 He reached a broader

audience in a more effective way as he used familiar codes and 'accessible

iconography'16 to most people. He did it in a way where 'icons of both art and fashion,

would respect both worlds in a collaboration'.17 The Japanese artist relates to people

and their concerns. In this way, the artist appeals to people's memories or comforts

and communicates with them.

Likewise with his relationship with other art professionals, his committed

rapport with his dealers –previously mentioned plus the LA and Tokyo based ones–

has proliferated. His disciplined and prolific plastic production, the consistency in his

intellectual discourse and high standards in the aesthetical manufacture have granted

him a position within the art market. He is a well-respected artist represented by

major galleries and not an illustrator or socialite portraying a luxury brand. However,

Takashi Murakami's name is well-known in a variety of spheres and has been

welcomed in the celebrity culture as well. His network expanded and his visibility

increased. His showcases became blockbusters for significant art institutions such as

MoCA LA (USA), Brooklyn Museum (USA), Mori Museum (Japan), Fondation

Cartier pour l'art contemporain (France), the Museum of Islamic Art (Qatar) and

recently in Samsung Museum of Art (Seoul) amongst many others. This was not so

current news as in the 2003 he entered the appraised 'Power 100' of ArtReview18 list in

the seventh position. Since then he has been fluctuant in the scale (Fig. 5), but has

managed to maintain his place in it.

The expansion. Kaikai Kiki

                                                                                                               15  Jeff  Howe. 'The two Faces of Takashi Murakami' in Wired Magazine. 11/11 (2003). in http://archive.wired.com/wired/archive/11.11/artist.html Consulted 06/04/2014. 16  Isabelle Graw. High Price. Art Between the Market and Celebrity Culture. (Berlin-New York: Sternberg Press, 2009). p. 20  17  Interview with Marc Jacobs for MoCA LA in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qWbt_Ao_d0 Consulted: 01/04/2014 18  'Power 100', ArtReview in http://artreview.com/power_100/takashi_murakami/ Consulted 10/04/2014  

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Takashi Murakami has draught attention from several spheres, which positions

him as a persona of wide interest among different kind of audiences. Thereby, the

demand over his production in all its ranges has exponentially increased since the

peak of his fame. 'In order to maximize his impact and pursue all his interests,

Murakami runs a company called Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd, which has ninety employees

in and around Tokyo and New York. The company is involved in what his dealers call

an 'insane' range of activities. It makes art. It designs merchandise. It acts as a

manager, agent and producer for seven other Japanese artists. It runs an art-fair-cum-

festival called Geisai, and it does multimillion-dollar freelance work for fashion, TV,

and music companies'19. With this system Murakami became more efficient in his

own endeavours and created extended arms into diverse practices, that otherwise

would be impossible to manage. Besides, this platform opens the possibility to create

a multidisciplinary space of dialogue, reflection and experimentation. Its good

organisation and proliferation is impressive for any contemporary entrepreneur.

'Murakami's original studio, which he set up with three assistants in 1995 was

initially called Hiropon Factory, in homage to Warhol's Factory''20 This Nippon artist,

still in contact with his background was engaged with the idea of establishing a place

where tradition and values might be nurtured and evolved at the same time. He looked

into a collaborative practice as his ancestors did. His admiration and influence of the

Kano School and the Edo style in Japan were inspirational in the adoption of this

model. However, the result of his sharp marketing tactics, of himself and his

collaborators, was overwhelming and Murakami renamed his laboratory 'Kaikai Kiki

                                                                                                               19  Sarah  Thornton. Seven days in the art world. (New York: W.W. Norton, 2008.). p. 185  20  Ibid. p. 191  

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in 2002, when Murakami reconceptualized his entire operation along the lines of a

marketing and communications company'. 21

Kaikai Kiki was not meant to be just an artist studio anymore. It was a place

for incubating, positioning, maturing and negotiating new projects. It allowed him to

reach his arms towards other areas not just as an artist but also as an entrepreneurial

art professional, such as curatorial practices and theoretical ventures.

Kaikai Kiki's leader made the meticulous selection of the people engaged in

this project. They would become the echoes of his theories and formal principles.

Murakami plausibly was establishing the proper conditions for a well developed and

valorised Japanese art market. It was his intention to create a laboratory where he

could prepare the contribution of contemporary culture in Japan to the world

embodied in his legacy.

The bridge: an artistic pragmatic visionary

Murakami has achieved an artistic production than encloses a diverse range of

elements that might be depicted under the umbrella of numerous perspectives as one

has analysed. The art industry has a very high esteem of this Japanese native artist.

His line of work is not simple but it is accessible. He has build a strong foundation

under it and it is constantly reinforced by attending contemporary preoccupations.

Takashi Murakami has learned how to develop his company and himself within the

art industry and some others that might be called entertainment industries. His

validation as an art professional goes beyond the timeline of acquisition of his

artworks, or the relevance of his blockbuster showcases in the international scene.

The critics various positions towards his work or himself are enriching elements for a

                                                                                                               21  Ibid. p. 191  

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stronger trajectory that has raised questions and enquired contemporary art practices,

its realms and display spaces –physical and virtual.

Moreover, the artist built himself as the connection between diverse practices

of art. Traditional Japanese Edo Style, the manga and anime techniques and the

collaborative practice of workshops like Kano school and Warhol's Factory –

implementing his own model as Kaikai Kiki. Murakami presents his work as the gap

in time of traditional and contemporary Japan. He aspires to awake the Japanese

people from its deep slumber to emphasise their own Japaneseness throughout the

appropriation of different narratives but contributing to the uniqueness of Japan

within the world.

Takashi's Murakami's relevance relies in his sharp ability, high standard

quality, and one might say even discipline, to engage several multifaceted projects.

They all converge simultaneously in a nurturing harmony. He has been depicting the

soil for new generations of nationals and international colleagues that might want to

follow or confront his means. One might approve or not his methods. People might

feel appealed towards his pictorial language or uncomfortable by its sumptuousness.

However, Murakami has been unequivocally critical, consistent and divergent along

his experimental matured career. The inertia is on its course.

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Ilustrations

Figure 1. Takashi Murakami, Miss Ko2, 1996. Painted fiberglass. 188 x 61 x 88.9 cm. Edition of 3+2 AP with two artist's proofs.

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Figure. 2 Takashi Murakami. Second Mission Project KO2, 2000. Mixed media figurine multiple. 30.5 cm. x 44 cm. x 10 cm.

Figure 3. Takashi Murakami. Hiropon, 1997. Oil and acrylic on fiberglass. 223.5 x 104 x 122 cm.

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Figure 4. Mori Ishida Kansai. Landscape, 1881. Color on silk. 113 X 50 cm.

Figure 5. ArtReview graph of Takashi Murakami's position in the list throughout the years. Bibliography

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• Bain���, Alison. 'Constructing an Artistic Identity', Work Employment Society.

(London: BSA Publications Ltd, 2005). pp. 25-46.

• Benjamin, Walter. The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.

(Translated: J. A. Underwood. London: Penguin Books, 1973).

• Danto, Arthur. What Art is? (London: Yale University Press, 2013.)

• Giuffre, Katherine. 'Sandpiles of Opportunity: Success in the Art World',

Social Forces. (Colorado: The University of North Carolina Press, 1999). pp.

816-832.

• Graw, Isabelle. High Price. Art Between the Market and Celebrity Culture.

(Berlin and New York: Sternberg Press, 2009).

• Hess, Herbert. 'The New Consumption Era', American Marketing Journal,

Vol. 2, No. 1 American Marketing Association, Jan., (1935). pp. 16-25.

• Howe, Jeff. 'The two Faces of Takashi Murakami' in Wired Magazine. 11/11

(2003). in http://archive.wired.com/wired/archive/11.11/artist.html Consulted

06/04/2014.

• Koh, Dong-Yeon. 'Murakami’s ‘little boy’ syndrome: victim or aggressor in

contemporary Japanese and American arts?' in Inter-Asia Cultural Studies,

Volume 11, Number 3, (2010).

• Lubow, Arthur. 'The Murakami Method' in New York Times 03/04 (2005)

• Ross, Johnathan. Interview with Takashi Murakami in Japanorama. in

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3i2hyHK0_g Consulted in 20/03/2014

• Saltz, Jerry. ©Murakami, New York Times Magazine in

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxmMxi-lelg Consulted 20/03/2014

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• Stallabrass, Julian. Contemporary Art: A Very Short Introduction. (Oxford:

Oxford University Press, 2006).

• The Museum of Modern Art, MoMA Highlights since 1980, (New York: The

Museum of Modern Art, 2007).

• Sarah Thornton. Seven days in the art world. (New York: W.W. Norton,

2008).

• Interview of Takashi Murakami for Shu Uemura in

http://youtu.be/HSfZg9WswpI Consulted 01/04/2014

• Interview with Marc Jacobs for MoCA LA in

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qWbt_Ao_d0 Consulted: 01/04/2014

• Smith, Roberta. 'From a Mushroom Cloud, a Burst of Art Reflecting Japan's

Psyche' in New York Times 08/04 (2005).