Takashi Murakami: The Octopus Eats Its Own Leg

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Colección Pérez Simón, Mexico© 1994–97 Takashi Murakami/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd., All Rights Reserved, Photo: Yoshitaka Uchida

Takashi Murakami, "Klein’s Pot A," 1994–97

acrylic on canvas mounted on board in plexiglass box,

Lecture with Takashi Murakami When: Wednesday, January 31, 7:00 pm

Where: Simon Fraser University, Djavad Mowafaghian Cinema, Goldcorp Centre for the Arts 

This lecture with renowned artist Takashi Murakami examines his ever shifting and always evolving interests. Conceived in dialogue with Takashi Murakami: The Octopus Eats Its Own Leg, this lecture will examine his ongoing research-based practice through a series of interlocking ideas. Working across disciplines—from painting and sculpture, to anime and fashion—Murakami has created works that effectively blur the boundaries between vernacular and fine art, eastern and western philosophies and aesthetics and politics. By reflecting on his thirty years of making, including working with collaborators as diverse as Louis Vuitton and Kanye West, Murakami will propose different means for engaging with history and shaping the future though the specific lens of an artistic practice.

Murakami’s Birthday Bash and After Party When: Friday, February 2, 5:30 pm, 10:00 pm for the After-Party

Where: Vancouver Art Gallery (750 Hornby Street) and The Commodore Ballroom (868 Granville Street) 

This special evening will celebrate Takashi Murakami’s birthday and the opening of his first retrospective exhibition in Canada, Takashi Murakami: The Octopus Eats Its Own Leg. The evening will begin at the Vancouver Art Gallery with an exclusive exhibition preview with the artist, followed by a seated dinner at the Commodore Ballroom, and an after-party headlined by Grammy Award-winning DJ Mix Master Mike. Proceeds from this event support the Vancouver Art Gallery’s exhibitions and education and public programs.

Takashi Murakami: The Octopus Eats Its Own Leg is an extraordinary exhibition that traces Murakami’s development as an artist over the course of three decades and draws attention to some of the major concepts and unique cultural conditions that have shaped his painting practice. Featuring fifty-five impressive paintings and sculptures, the exhibition offers a critical and serious meditation on the current state of Japanese society in the midst of a complex, global world. The exhibition will also feature a newly created five metre-tall sculpture as well as two multi-panel paintings created specially for the Vancouver Art Gallery exhibition.

From his early works to new, never-before-seen paintings and selected sculptures from different periods, the more than fifty works in this exhibition reflect Murakami’s exquisite level of craft, his insightful engagement with history and the consistent, universal themes that have guided his practice over the past three decades. 

Organized by the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago and curated by Michael Darling, James W. Alsdorf Chief Curator