ART PRESENTATION: Takashi Murakami-The Octopus Eats Its Own Leg

Working in the red thin line between different cultures, Takashi Murakami has stated that the artist is someone who understands the borders between worlds and who makes an effort to know them. With his distinctive “Superflat” style and ethos, which employs highly refined classical Japanese painting techniques to depict a super-charged mix of Pop, animé and otaku content within a flattened representational picture-plane, he moves freely within an ever-expanding field of aesthetic issues and cultural inspirations.

By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: The Vancouver Art Gallery Archive

Takashi Murakami’s exhibition “The Octopus Eats Its Own Leg” at The Vancouver Art Gallery, features 55 paintings and sculptures from his earliest mature work to his recent large-scale creations, also the exhibition includes a recently produced five-metre tall sculpture and two specially created multi-panel paintings. The exhibition takes its title “The Octopus Eats Its Own Leg” from an ancient Japanese parable,” tako ga jibun no ashi wo kurau”. It refers to a situation in which one survives for the time being by feeding on or sacrificing oneself. The octopus eats its own leg to survive, but does so knowing the tentacle will regenerate. The phrase symbolises the cyclical nature of Murakami’s practice and the creative output of the Kaikai KiKi studio. Murakami is the octopus: he consumes history, culture and even his own oeuvre and fame to persevere as an artist. The exhibition opens with Murakami’s early paintings from the 1980s that synthesize traditional Nihonga-style painting techniques and formats with contemporary subject matter, and goes on to trace the artist’s shift in the 1990s toward a distinctive, anime-influenced style known as Superflat. From his signature animated flowers to the iconic character Mr. DOB, a mouse-like figure that serves as part ambassador and part self-portrait, the works in the show offer an in-depth look at Murakami’s unique “Superflat” universe. “Tan Tan Bo Puking – a.k.a. Gero Tan” (2002) is a perfect materialization of Murakami’s famous “Superflat” concept laced with influences of Japanese anime and monster films. Murakami says his fascination with anime started early on. “I am part of the first generation to watch ‘Star Wars’ real time, so I’ve naturally been influenced by the series. As such, I believe the influence has seeped into my self-expression”. The exhibition also features works from a recent body of paintings depicting groups of wizened Buddhist monks (Arhats), including the ten-panel “100 Arhats” (2013), an ambitious work of stunning intricacy and craftsmanship. A departure from the commercial pop aesthetic that first garnered him popular acclaim, the Arhat works mark Murakami’s return to his training in traditional Japanese painting in order to find a response to the suffering caused by the massive earthquake and tsunami in Fukushima, Japan in 2011 that killed more than 15,000 people.

Info: Curator: Michael Darling, Vancouver Art Gallery, 750 Hornby Street, Vancouver, Duration: 3/2-6/5/18, Days & Hours: Mon & Wed-Sun 10:00-17:00, Tue 10:00-21:00, www.vanartgallery.bc.ca