TAKASHI MURAKAMI: THE 500 ARHATS

TAKASHI MURAKAMI: THE 500 ARHATS
Press Release vol.2
SEPTEMBER 15, 2015
TAKASHI MURAKAMI: THE 500 ARHATS
october 31,2015 [Sat] – march 6, 2016 [sun] Mori Art Museum (53F, Roppongi Hills Mori Tower)
[UPDATES] DETAILS OF PUBLIC PROGRAMS ANNOUNCED + 500 ARHATS BY EDO
ARTISTS, NAGASAWA ROSETSU & KANO KAZUNOBU ALSO TO BE EXHIBITED!
The Mori Art Museum is pleased to present “Takashi Murakami: The 500 Arhats” from Saturday, October 31,
2015, through Sunday, March 6, 2016, marking the first large-scale Murakami exhibition in Japan in 14 years.
Takashi Murakami is known as one of the most internationally acclaimed contemporary artists
working today. In addition to his retrospective, which began at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los
Angeles, and later travelled to prominent museums around the world, he has held solo exhibitions and
large-scale installations in a number of venues such as The Palace of Versailles and the Rockefeller Center,
astounding the global audience with the massive scale and polished quality of his works.
Through his artistic endeavors, Murakami has linked ‘otaku culture,’ character iconography, and
Japanese art history against the backdrop of the thematic landscape of post-war Japan, developing the
concept of ‘Superflat,’ which has now left its definite mark in the contemporary art world. He explored
this concept with his “Superflat Trilogy,” a series of three curated exhibitions held at multiple locations
around the world. Its final chapter, “Little Boy: The Arts of Japan’s Exploding Subculture” (New York, 2005)
was given the 2005 award for Best Thematic Museum Show by the American branch of the International
Association of Art Critics.
In this long-awaited solo exhibition in Japan, Murakami’s 100-meter-long painting, The 500 Arhats ,
surely one of the largest paintings ever produced in global art history, will be shown in Japan for the
first time. The work was created as a token of gratitude to the nation of Qatar, one of the first to offer
assistance in the wake of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, and was unveiled in Doha in
2012, the following year. The exhibition will comprise The 500 Arhats and a number of new works in which
he continues to offer up new challenges to the history of contemporary art. This exhibition will be an
unparalleled opportunity to encounter Murakami as a mature artist working with astonishing scale, energy,
and artistic accomplishment.
The 500 Arhats (detail) 2012 Acrylic on canvas mounted on board 302 x 10,000 cm Private collection © 2012 Takashi Murakami/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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Press Contact Details: Ms. Machino, Ms. Taki, Ms. Tozawa
Public Relations, Mori Art Museum Tel: +81-(0)3-6406-6111 Fax: +81-(0)3-6406-9351
E-mail: pr@mori.art.museum Web: www.mori.art.museum
TAKASHI MURAKAMI: THE 500 ARHATS
Press Release vol.2
SEPTEMBER 15, 2015
EXHIBITION HIGHLIGHTS
THE JAPAN PREMIERE OF TAKASHI MURAKAMI'S EPIC,
THE 500 ARHATS
Takashi Murakami, inspired by a series of dialogues with art historian Tsuji Nobuo for The Geijutsu Shincho
art journal, and by paintings of the Five Hundred Arhats by Kano Kazunobu (1816-1863) and Nagasawa
Rosetsu (1754-1799), enlisted over 200 students from Japanese art colleges to carry out the arduous
task of completing, in a very short period of time, his 100-meter-long magnum opus painting.
The work consists of four sections bearing the names
of the legendary Chinese guardians of the four celestial
directions (blue dragon - east, white tiger - west, red bird
- south, and black tortoise - north). Addressing themes of
religion and art, human mortality and limitations, this new
monumental work breaks new ground in Murakami ’ s creativity.
His The 500 Arhats was unveiled overseas, making the
forthcoming exhibition in Japan a ‘homecoming.’
Production view, The 500 Arhats
Photo: Aminaka Kenta
* The 500 Arhats
The 500 arhats are thought of as enlightened disciples of Buddha who spread his teachings and give ordinary people
salvation from worldly desires. The faith of the arhats was conveyed to Japan during the Heian period (8th-12th century) and
flourished throughout the country from the Edo period (17th-19th century) on in the forms of paintings and sculptures.
Kano Kazunobu’s Five Hundred Arhat s (housed at Zojoji Temple in Shiba, Tokyo), a 100-scroll series of paintings, was
exhibited in Japan in its entirety for the first time at the Edo Tokyo Museum immediately following the 2011 Great East
Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, and at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, a Smithsonian museum in Washington, D.C. in 2012.
Both exhibitions drew tremendous public attention.
The 500 Arhats 2012 Acrylic on canvas mounted on board 302 x 10,000 cm Private collection
Installation view: “Murakami - Ego,” Al Riwaq Exhibition Hall, Doha, 2012 Photo: GION © 2012 Takashi Murakami/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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Press Contact Details: Ms. Machino, Ms. Taki, Ms. Tozawa
Public Relations, Mori Art Museum Tel: +81-(0)3-6406-6111 Fax: +81-(0)3-6406-9351
E-mail: pr@mori.art.museum Web: www.mori.art.museum
TAKASHI MURAKAMI: THE 500 ARHATS
Press Release vol.2
SEPTEMBER 15, 2015
500 ARHATS BY EDO ARTISTS,
NAGASAWA ROSETSU AND KANO KAZUNOBU
Paintings by Nagasawa Rosetsu and Kano Kazunobu that greatly inspired Takashi Murakami ’s The 500
Arhats will be on view at the Mori Art Museum.*
Nagasawa Rosetsu ’s recently re-discovered microscopic painting depicts the 500 arhats and
animal figures on a 3-centimeter square area. In contrast, Kano Kazunobu ’s Five Hundred Arhats is a
voluminous series, consisting of 100 copiously painted scrolls produced over a period of 10 years. It
depicts the training of the arhats and their acts of salvation. Kazunobu’s dense colors and obsessive
depictions overwhelm the viewers. Displaying the paintings of Nagasawa Rosetsu and Kano Kazunobu
in conjunction with Takashi Murakami’s The 500 Arhats allows a dialogue between the Edo artists and
the artist of our time. * Selections will be exhibited in rotation during the exhibition period.
Nagasawa Rosetsu
Five Hundred Arhats
1798
Ink and light color on paper
3.1 x 3.1 cm
Private collection
Kano Kazunobu
Scroll 22 (“The Six Realms: Hell”), Five Hundred Arhats
End of Edo period
Ink and color on silk
172.3 x 85.3 cm
Collection: Zojoji Temple, Tokyo
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* In real scale
Press Contact Details: Ms. Machino, Ms. Taki, Ms. Tozawa
Public Relations, Mori Art Museum Tel: +81-(0)3-6406-6111 Fax: +81-(0)3-6406-9351
E-mail: pr@mori.art.museum Web: www.mori.art.museum
TAKASHI MURAKAMI: THE 500 ARHATS
Press Release vol.2
SEPTEMBER 15, 2015
THE "NOW" OF TAKASHI MURAKAMI
THROUGH A NUMBER OF HIS LATEST WORKS
The exhibition will also feature Murakami’s large-scale sculptures such as The Birth Cry of the Universe,
still in production after nearly 10 years, and Flame of Desire – Gold (2013); new paintings created
especially for this exhibition from his signature series including “727” and “Tan Tan Bo”; as well as “Enso-”
(circle) paintings and silver and gold “Karajishi” Chinese lion paintings, all of which will be shown for the
first time in Japan. The exhibition will present the irresistable artistic world by Murakami, an extraordinary
contemporary artist who keeps captivating the global art scene against the backdrop of Japanese culture.
[Title TBD]
In production
180 x 240 cm
Acrylic on canvas mounted on aluminum frame
© 2015 Takashi Murakami/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. All Rights
Reserved.
(Left)
The Birth Cry of a Universe
In production
Mixed media
420 x 293.5 x 230mm
Courtesy: Gagosian Gallery, New York
© 2015 Takashi Murakami/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. All Rights
Reserved.
(Right)
Flame of Desire – Gold
2013
Platinum leaf on bronze
475cm
Courtesy: Blum & Poe, Los Angeles
© 2013 Takashi Murakami/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. All Rights
Reserved.
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Press Contact Details: Ms. Machino, Ms. Taki, Ms. Tozawa
Public Relations, Mori Art Museum Tel: +81-(0)3-6406-6111 Fax: +81-(0)3-6406-9351
E-mail: pr@mori.art.museum Web: www.mori.art.museum
TAKASHI MURAKAMI: THE 500 ARHATS
Press Release vol.2
SEPTEMBER 15, 2015
[Title TBD]
In production
170 x 144.7cm
Acrylic on canvas mounted on aluminum frame
© 2015 Takashi Murakami/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Takashi Murakami
The Worldly Artist from Japan
Born 1962 in Tokyo, Murakami completed his doctoral work at Tokyo University of the Arts
School of Fine Arts, becoming the first person at the university to earn a Ph.D. in Nihonga .
In 2008, he was selected as one of TIME magazine’s “The 100 Most Influential People.” He
is well known for his corporate branding projects with Louis Vuitton, VANS, shu uemura, and
Roppongi Hills, as well as collaborations with musicians such as Kanye West, Pharrell Williams,
and Yuzu. More recently, he has concentrated on film and video production, and released his
first live-action feature film Jellyfish Eyes in 2013. In 2016, he is scheduled to release an
animated television series 6HP (Six Hearts Princess) .
Photo: Okazumi Chika
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Press Contact Details: Ms. Machino, Ms. Taki, Ms. Tozawa
Public Relations, Mori Art Museum Tel: +81-(0)3-6406-6111 Fax: +81-(0)3-6406-9351
E-mail: pr@mori.art.museum Web: www.mori.art.museum
TAKASHI MURAKAMI: THE 500 ARHATS
Press Release vol.2
SEPTEMBER 15, 2015
General Information
Title: “Takashi Murakami: The 500 Arhats”
Organizers: Mori Art Museum, The Asahi Shimbun, NHK Promotions Inc.
Corporate Sponsors: Morgan Stanley, LIXIL Corporation, Kinden Corporation, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co., Ltd.,
Daiwa House Industry Co., Ltd.
Production Support: Mitsubishi Kakoki Kaisha, Ltd.
Support: Yamato Logistics Co., Ltd., Champagne Pommery, Next5, Bombay Sapphire
Curated by: Miki Akiko (Guest Curator)
Curatorial Advisor: Tsuji Nobuo (Art historian)
Period: October 31, 2015 (Sat) - March 6, 2016 (Sun)
Venue: Mori Art Museum, 53F, Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, 6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Open Hours: 10:00-22:00 ｜ Tue: 10:00-17:00 ｜ * Open until 22:00 on November 3 [Tue].
* Admission until 30 minutes before closing. | * Open everyday.
Admissions: Adult: ¥1,600 / University/highschool student: ¥1,100 / Child (age 4 up to junior highschool student): ¥600
* All prices include tax. ｜ * Additional entrance fee to the Tokyo City View observation deck, as well as the Sky Deck is required.
Inquiries: +81-(0)3-5777-8600 (Hello Dial)
EXHIBITION-RELATED PUBLIC PROGRAMS
Talk Session “ Japan / Stories / Realism”
* Japanese-English simultaneous interpretation available
Leading Japanese anime director Tomino Yoshiyuki, whose work includes films in the Gundam series such
as Mobile Suit Gundam and Gundam Reconguista in G , as well as Space Runaway Ideon and others, will
join Takashi Murakami for a discussion based mainly on various keywords.
Speaker: Tomino Yoshiyuki (Anime director) Discussant: Takashi Murakami
Date & Time: 15:00-17:00, Sunday, November 1, 2015 (Doors open: 14:30)
Venue: Academyhills (49F, Roppongi Hills Mori Tower)
Capacity: 150 (booking required)
Admission: General ￥1,000 / MAMC members free
Cooperation: Academyhills
Movie Jellyfish Eyes Screening + Talk
Tomino Yoshiyuki
* Conducted in Japanese
A special screening of Takashi Murakami’s 2013 directorial debut Jellyfish Eyes to coincide with the exhibition. Following
the screening, actor Saito Takumi, the film’s cast member, will join Takashi Murakami to talk about the movie, its production
process, and more.
Speaker: Saito Takumi (Actor) Discussant: Takashi Murakami
Date & Time: 19:00-22:00, Saturday, November 14, 2015
* Doors open: 18:30
* 19:00- Screening of Jellyfish Eyes / 21:00- Talk
Venue: Auditorium, Mori Art Museum (53F, Roppongi Hills Mori Tower)
Capacity: 100 (booking required)
Movie Jellyfish Eyes
Saito Takumi
Admission: Free (exhibition ticket required)
© Takashi Murakami/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd.
All Rights Reserved.
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Press Contact Details: Ms. Machino, Ms. Taki, Ms. Tozawa
Public Relations, Mori Art Museum Tel: +81-(0)3-6406-6111 Fax: +81-(0)3-6406-9351
E-mail: pr@mori.art.museum Web: www.mori.art.museum
TAKASHI MURAKAMI: THE 500 ARHATS
Press Release vol.2
SEPTEMBER 15, 2015
Talk Session “ Piquant! Discussion on Japanese Art”
* Japanese-English simultaneous interpretation available
Takashi Murakami is part of a long lineage of “eccentric” artists in Japanese art history. For this event,
Murakami is joined by art historian Tsuji Nobuo, a driving force of today’s Japanese art boom and one of
the first to celebrate eccentric painters in Japanese art history such as Ito Jakuchu and Soga Shohaku, to
discuss the realm of Murakami's works as well as the allure and future of Japanese art.
Speakers: Tsuji Nobuo (Art historian), Takashi Murakami
Moderator: Miki Akiko (Curator of the “Takashi Murakami: The 500 Arhats” exhibition)
Date & Time: 14:00-16:00, Sunday, November 15 (Doors open: 13:30)
Venue: Academyhills (49F, Roppongi Hills Mori Tower)
Capacity: 150 (booking required)
Admission: General ￥1,000 / MAMC members free
Cooperation: Academyhills
Tsuji Nobuo
Photo: Tsutsuguchi Naohiro
(The Geijutsu Shincho )
Talk Session “ Rethinking Japanese Monozukuri (Manufacturing)”
* Conducted in Japanese
The heads of Kaiyodo, Kurotani Bijutsu, and Lucky Wide, companies that produce Murakami’s sculptures,
come together to discuss Japanese manufacturing and Murakami’ s works, touching also on their
companies and personal histories.
Speakers: Nishida Yoshiharu (Deputy Marketing Manager, Kurotani Bijutsu), Miyawaki Shuichi (President,
Kaiyodo Co., Ltd. ) , Yoshizawa Hirohisa ( President, Lucky Wide Co., Ltd. ) , Takashi Murakami, A staff
member of Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd.
Date & Time: 14:00-17:00, Saturday, December 12, 2015 (Doors open: 13:30)
Venue: Auditorium, Mori Art Museum (53F, Roppongi Hills Mori Tower)
Capacity: 100 (booking required)
Admission: Free (exhibition ticket required)
Miyawaki Shuichi
Nishida Yoshiharu
Yoshizawa Hirohisa
Talk “ The Great Quake, The 500 Arhats , and Takashi Murakami”(provisional title)
* Conducted in Japanese
Art critic Sawaragi Noi, who has observed Takashi Murakami’ s career for many years from his early works
created during his postgraduate studies to The 500 Arhats , discusses the place of Murakami’s works in
the contemporary art world and their significance from his own unique perspective.
Speaker: Sawaragi Noi (Professor, Tama Art University)
Date & Time: 14:00-16:00, Sunday, January 10, 2016 (Doors open: 13:30)
Venue: Academyhills (49F, Roppongi Hills Mori Tower)
Capacity: 150 (booking required)
Admission: General ￥1,000 / MAMC members free
Cooperation: Academyhills
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Sawaragi Noi
Press Contact Details: Ms. Machino, Ms. Taki, Ms. Tozawa
Public Relations, Mori Art Museum Tel: +81-(0)3-6406-6111 Fax: +81-(0)3-6406-9351
E-mail: pr@mori.art.museum Web: www.mori.art.museum
TAKASHI MURAKAMI: THE 500 ARHATS
Press Release vol.2
SEPTEMBER 15, 2015
Talk “ Japanese Dual Standard”
* Conducted in Japanese
Akutagawa Prize-winning author and head monk of Fukujuji Temple Genyu Sokyu discusses Japanese
culture and Murakami’s artwork.
Calling lacquerware “japanning” was a stroke of genius. Lacquerware production involves repeating the
opposing acts of “coating” and “polishing” (shaving), producing a subtle, “jewel-like” gleam. Doubtless I
am not alone in sensing a taste of that in Murakami’s recent Zen circles. Come to think of it, opposing
vectors: boldness and delicacy, loquacity and silence, desolation and fertility, have been colliding with
each other within Murakami all along, driving the engine of his practice. I’ d like to show that this is
precisely what Japanese traditional art has been since the Kojiki.
― The Spiritual Life Force of “Dichotomy,” Genyu Sokyu
Speaker: Genyu Sokyu (Writer; Head monk, Fukujuji Temple; Professor Emeritus, Hanazono University)
Date & Time: 15:00-16:30, Saturday, February 20, 2016 (Doors open: 14:30)
Venue: Auditorium, Mori Art Museum
Capacity: 100 (booking required)
Admission: Free (exhibition ticket required)
Genyu Sokyu
Photo: Otaka Kazuyasu
* Booking information and further details will be posted on the Mori Art Museum website at a later date.
www.mori.art.museum
* Please note that speakers are subject to change without prior notice.
* There will be more Public Programs including gallery talks, family programs and access programs (some are conducted in
Japanese only).
Inquiries on Public Programs: Public Programs, Mori Art Museum
Tel: +81-(0)3-6406-6101 (11:00-17:00, Mon-Fri) Fax : +81-(0)3-6406-9351 E-mail: ppevent-mam@mori.co.jp
FOR OBTAINING THE EXHIBITION-RELATED PRESS IMAGES
Please make separate inquiries via e-mail to the following: pr @ mori.art.museum
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Press Contact Details: Ms. Machino, Ms. Taki, Ms. Tozawa
Public Relations, Mori Art Museum Tel: +81-(0)3-6406-6111 Fax: +81-(0)3-6406-9351
E-mail: pr@mori.art.museum Web: www.mori.art.museum
TAKASHI MURAKAMI: THE 500 ARHATS
Press Release vol.2
SEPTEMBER 15, 2015
RELATED EXHIBITIONS
“ Takashi
Murakami’s Superflat Collection
- From Sho-haku and Rosanjin to Anselm Kiefer” at
Yokohama Museum of Art
This exhibition will unveil Takashi Murakami’ s own collection of a wide variety of artworks from home and abroad for the first
time, focusing on his own childhood experiences as well as elements and factors that influenced him as a young artist. It will
cast questions to the existing contexts of art, while attempting to analyze sources of aesthetics and mechanisms of value
creation.
Period: January 30 (Sat) - April 3 (Sun), 2016
Venue: Yokohama Museum of Art (3-4-1 Minato-mirai, Nishi-ku, Yokohama)
Details: http://yokohama.art.museum
Inquiries: Ms. Miyano, Ms. Fujii, Ms. Kubota
Tel: +81-(0)45-221-0319 Fax: +81-(0)45-221-0317
E-mail: pr-yma@yaf.or.jp
Anselm Kiefer Merkaba 2010
© Anselm Kiefer
Courtesy: Gagosian Gallery, New York
Photo: Charles Duprat
Exhibition of Kano Kazunobu’s Five Hundred Arhats at
Zojoji Treasures Gallery
At Zojoji Treasures Gallery, where treasures of the Temple in addition to the Scale Model of the Taitokuin Mausoleum , a
part of the British Royal Collection, are exhibited. The entirety of Five Hundred Arhats , a monumental work by the late Edoperiod painter Kano Kazunobu, which in fact inspired Takashi Murakami to produce his The 500 Arhats , is currently displayed
in rotating sections. A special exhibition on Five Hundred Arhats is also going to be held to coincide with the Mori Art
Museum’s “Takashi Murakami: The 500 Arhats” exhibition.
Period: October 7 (Wed) - December 27 (Sun), 2015 [first term]
January 1 (Fri) - March 13 (Sun), 2016 [second term]
Venue: Zojoji Treasures Gallery
(B1, Main Hall, Zojoji Temple, 4-7-35 Shiba-koen, Minato-ku, Tokyo)
Details: http://www.zojoji.or.jp/treasure/500rakanz.html
Inquiries: Mr. Yoshida
Public Relations, Zojoji Temple
Tel: +81-(0)3-3432-1431 Fax: +81-(0)3-3432-1437
E-mail: yoshida@zojoji.or.jp
Kano Kazunobu
Five Hundred Arhats
Installation view: Zojoji Treasures Gallery, Tokyo
Photo: Taira Takeshi
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Press Contact Details: Ms. Machino, Ms. Taki, Ms. Tozawa
Public Relations, Mori Art Museum Tel: +81-(0)3-6406-6111 Fax: +81-(0)3-6406-9351
E-mail: pr@mori.art.museum Web: www.mori.art.museum