©MURAKAMI

I had no luck to see the exhibition of Takashi Murakami "©MURAKAMI" at Brooklyn Museum till today.. But I was finally able to make it before it would end a week later.

At the entrance I was wondering this Mr. Pointy (black statue in the center) was the same guy that was once at the Rockefeller Plaza some years ago.. Is it? - Nope. Actually, the one at the Rocke was white... They are really flawlessly made anyway..

Ha ha.. There is nothing to do with Mr. President I for ©MURAKAMI show.. The structure of the Brooklyn Museum is pretty unique so you have to go through the museum's Amerian Art section to reach the special exhibition area on the 5th floor. Why not appreciate General George Washington's efforts besides of fireworks, BBQs, etc... on the Independence Day weekend?
"The time is near at hand which must determine whether Americans are to be free men or slaves...."
(More quotes:http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/g/georgewash146823.html)

Mr. Takashi Murakami (b. 1962) is one of the significant Japanese artists emerged in the 1990s. Whatever people say, he is a thought-provoking artist I think, referring his artmaking (superflatness of his paintings, factory-produced artworks, manipulator of cute & otaku (geek) culture in Japan, etc..) and ways of promoting not only his own art but also others (products with Louis Vuitton, music video animation for Kaye West.., his own company Kaikai Kiki Co., the art fair GEISAI produced by him, ) ©MURAKAMI has featured several major works from c.1994 till 2007/2008 by him and explains how he has built his own brand name TAKASHI MURAKAMI. For further readings: http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/murakami/,
http://english.kaikaikiki.co.jp/,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takashi_Murakami.


After you exit the exhibition space on the 4th floor (the exhibition has spread onto two floors), as expected, there is a gift shop all about Murakami goodies.. I also saw other stuff of his Kaikai Kiki fellows and even Yoshitomo Nara.. I was even shocked when I found same key chains of Roppoingi Hills (he made characters for the mega-complex of commercials and residentials in Tokyo) that my friend gave as souvenirs a week ago after he returned from Japan. ... Consumerism is also part of Mr. Murakami's art so the show is concluded very well with these kids holding plush dolls (average $30 each)!