Very few people would likely think of the word “power” when considering the work of Takasi Murakami. This is the man whose renown is wrapped up in anime and comic books (manga). And for creating the marvelous artwork on the cover of Kanye West’s Graduation album showing a teddy bear being blasted out of a canon. And for sprinkling vibrant color on Louis Vuitton bags. None of these things are powerful. They’re fun.
In the Museum of Contemporary Art’s current exhibition of the artist work spanning over 30 years and heavily represented with current projects, you get it all. From his early works that beautifu
lly reflect classical forms in Japanese art, to that mouse head known as Mr. DOB; who looks like Mickey Mouse’s rich and eccentric first cousin and functions as Mr. Murakami’s alter ego. Always cute and sunny in his earliest iterations, Mr. DOB has evolved into taking on moods and personalities that can verge on the haunting and sinister. He’s growing up.
Mr. Murakami is an artist who believes and persuasively insists that the worlds of fine art and commercialism can exist in the same painting. Working from that mindset, he creates visions that can stop you in your tracks. Much of his more current work, incorporating religious and sacred themes, can even inspire quiet awe. Nothing like the religious art of the Western world, these images resemble fantasy to the American and European eye. Resplendent with dazzling colors and exquisite craftsmanship, they project power that verges on invincibility and make the grotesque beautiful.
Take for example his arhads. In the Buddhism, arhads resemble priests. They absorb pain and dispense wisdom. Over the ages, this depleting process exacts a cost. A physical one that leaves the arhads, after millennium of service, bizarrely misshapen and spent. There are hundreds of them. And you don’t have to look closely to see that each is his own individual. The 100 Arhads is a work that is now considered one of the high marks of Mr. Murakami career. Mounted in panels over 6’ tall with 
elaborate adornment and set in the midst of fantastic imagery, Murakami depicts them in a vista that runs over 30 feet long. They are like Times Square on a clear summer night. Bright to the point of brilliant and impossible to absorb in a single glance. In fact, the closer you look, the more richly you’ll be rewarded. Sumptuous detail lies in wherever your eye lands. The paintings writhe with intricacy.
Adding to the sense of the incredibly possible, MCA’s Murakami exhibit also includes two extraordinary sculptures. Symbolizing the start and end of the universe, they stand like massive sentinels. They are George Lucas meets samurai aggression. Massive, standing over 9 feet tall, the two statues are known as the Embodiment of “Un” and the Embodiment of “A”. They are strength incarnate with the heads of demons on the bodies of Hercules. No photographic image can do them justice and it is advisable to view them from behind as well as face on to fully appreciate the power they embody.
TAKASHI MURAKAMI
THE OCTOPUS EATS ITS OWN LEG
Featuring a never-before-seen monumental masterpiece
June 6 – September 24, 2017
$12 recommended