Takashi Murakami: The Octopus Eats Its Own Leg

Known for his vibrant anime-inspired characters and his collaborations with pop icon Kanye West and fashion house Louis Vuitton, Japanese artist Takashi Murakami has continually blurred the boundaries between high and low culture, ancient and modern, East and West. This major retrospective of his paintings features 50 works that span three decades of his career, from the artist's earliest mature works -- many of which are being shown in North America for the first time -- to newly created, monumentally scaled paintings. Takashi Murakami: The Octopus Eats Its Own Leg shows how Murakami's art is rooted in traditions of Japanese painting and folklore, and highlights the artist's careful attention to craft and materials. It also showcases the artist's astute eye for the contemporary influences of globalization, media culture, and the continued threats of nuclear power. Murakami's increasingly complex paintings are filled with characters and scenarios both saccharine sweet and menacing. They are evidence of a conflicted, concerned, and committed commentator on cultural production who recognizes that any effective 'hook' is bound to have a sharp point. Throughout his career, and especially over the last ten years, Murakami has combined spectacle with sophistication, transforming the art world while establishing his own reputation within it.