Beschreibung:

Takashi Murakami Eye Love SUPERFLAT 2004 acrylic on canvas laid on panel 59 x 59 in. (149.9 x 149.9 cm) Signed and dated “Murakami 04” on the reverse.
Provenance Private Collection © 2004 Takashi Murakami/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved Catalogue Essay © 2004 Takashi Murakami/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved By invitation from renowned American designer Marc Jacobs Takashi Murakami invaded the design world in 2003 to begin his celebrated collaboration with luxury goods brand LVMH. Titled the Eye Love Monogram, the artist’s series of handbags combined his own trademarked long-lashed eyes with Louis Vuitton’s signature two hundred year old monogram in ninety-seven different colors, repeated on both black and white backgrounds. While Murakami was already well versed in the commercialization of his own brand, this particular project granted him the opportunity to create products that achieved a higher level of visibility through mass marketing. When asked whether or not his partnership with Louis Vuitton influenced his art, the artist explained, “Onehundred percent yes. When I started with them, I totally didn’t know. ‘What is a Louis Vuitton?’ Now I understand: They make large, very expensive bags. This is the same way paintings are very expensive.” (T. Murakami, from an interview with A. Peers, “Superflatbush,” New York Magazine, March 24, 2008). Murakami activated a process of cross-breeding through which he was able to infuse the brand with his own signature aesthetic. As part of his series of acrylic on canvas paintings that feature the now iconic Eye Love Monogram, the present lot, Eye Love SUPERFLAT, 2004, reflects the way in which Murakami continuously calls into question the boundary between art and commerce. Like Warhol, Murakami “appropriated business as an art form and adopted corporate branding strategies…[and] put those strategies in service of the global projection and promotion of exotic metropolitan taste formations.” (P. Schimmel, © Murakami, New York, 2007, pp. 19-20). Furthermore, Murakami is a leveler; flattening not only the picture plane but also the hierarchies between high and low; between art and commodity and between the art world and fashion. What namely distinguishes Murakami as a Pop icon, however, is his preoccupation with the Japanese consumer culture. Fusing these two concerns is the term “Superflat,” which the artist uses to refer to various flattened forms in Japanese animation, graphic art, and pop culture. Influenced by manga and anime, “Superflat” has emerged as a postmodern art movement in and of itself, and includes other artists like Chiho Aoshima Mahomi Kunikata, Sayuri Michima, and Yoshitomo Nara “Superflat” explores the consumerism and even sexual fetishism that is prevalent in post-war Japanese culture. The often grotesque and distorted images are infused with levity through their repetition and vibrant colors. Eye Love SUPERFLAT, 2004, celebrates, explores, and discovers Japanese consumer culture. Read More