The exhibition’s title evokes the spiritual realm. Mononoke refers to spirits in Japanese classical literature and folklore which were said to possess individuals, and could cause them harm and potentially death. Murakami draws inspiration from his foundation in Japanese art history. At university, he studied Nihonga, a traditional Japanese painting style involving the use of natural pigments, largely to depict landscapes developed in the 19th century during the Meiji period; he was also greatly influenced by the painters of the Edo period (17th-19th century). Murakami interprets, references and reconstructs seminal pieces from the Edo period for many of the works in his Kyoto exhibition, but of course in his signature style. 

One of the centrepieces is a captivating crimson, 18-metre-long mural, Dragon in Clouds—Red Mutation: The Version I Painted Myself in Annoyance after Professor Nobuo Tsuji told me, “Why don’t you paint something yourself for once?” (2010). This is Murakami’s take on Soga Shohaku’s 18th-century Dragon and Clouds, a work that had a lasting impact on the artist. Another staggering 13-metre-long mural, Rakuchū-Rakugai-zu Byōbu: Iwasa Matabei RIP, depicts Murakami’s version of Rakuchu Rakugai Zu Byobu, or Scenes in and Around Kyoto (Funaki Version) (Edo period, 17th century), by Iwasa Matabei, which showcased various aspects and activities taking place in Kyoto, from its shrines and temples to people celebrating festivals.

Some of Murakami’s more familiar figures appear alongside these paintings, including sculptures of his well-known characters Kaikai and Kiki, and Mr. Dob. The show will continuously be updated, as final touches are yet to be put on some of the newer works that were created especially for the exhibition. The final element is the installation of the 10-metre tall golden sculpture Flower Parent and Child standing atop a Louis Vuitton trunk, will be ready to view by early March at the museum’s Japanese Garden pond.

Murakami is as well known for his collaborations with celebrities and luxury brands as he is for founding Superflat, the art and cultural theory he proposed in 2000. It is characterised by a flat, two-dimensional style that bridges a traditional Japanese aesthetic with contemporary Japanese pop culture such as manga and anime, and also captures the current cultural sentiment and socio-political climate informed by the impact of the Second World War on contemporary Japanese society.

With this style, he also takes from prints and drawings from the Edo era which have a similar flatness, encapsulating Japanese traditional and contemporary visual art history in his own signature way. His success came in the 1990s and early 2000s, when the artist was embraced by the contemporary art world and well received by a more international audience, which led to more mainstream and commercial success. In previous interviews, the artist has spoken about being considered a “money guy” in Japan, in that his work appears commercial, despite being seen as a cultural figure who’s managed to straddle high and low culture—a rare feat. Even for Takashi Murakami Mononoke Kyoto, he’s expecting more international visitors than domestic ones. “More than 50 per cent of my audience will be coming from overseas,” the artist says, while also taking into account Kyoto’s large tourist footfall, “but I think most Japanese people don’t really understand contemporary art. They’ll just look at my work and wonder why it’s so expensive.”

This perceived lack of understanding is what motivated him to find an avenue through which he could explain his art, further emphasising the cultural status he’s attained of being a bridge between a niche art world and popular culture. “I can’t really bear it,” Murakami says of the lack of comprehension of contemporary art, “so I started a YouTube channel explaining each individual work in my own words.”

It’s a yearning for connection, unquenched ambition and an intense commitment to his project that propels the artist. He throws everything into his work, sometimes at a cost that isn’t always offset by his financial success. From the dazzling Gold Room he created for Murakami vs Murakami in 2019 at Hong Kong’s Tai Kwun to a more challenging 100-metre painting, 500 Arhats (2012), that he installed in Doha, Murakami doesn’t play it safe. This project was created as a thank you gift for Qatar, one of the first countries to offer aid to Japan during the 2011 tsunami. “My gallery told me, ‘Don’t do it—it’s too much of a gamble,’” the artist recalls, adding that it was a huge challenge. Subsequently, the work went on to be displayed at Tokyo’s Mori Art Museum for the artist’s solo exhibition in 2015, and became one of his best-known works.

His studio is a well-oiled machine, employing 150 people, which enables him to put on these massive shows, and allows him the freedom to do commercial collaborations in fields outside of his comfort zone, from fashion to music. The desire to learn and develop new ways to create high-quality products and leave a legacy is a motivating force for the artist to work with brands. Murakami recalls his first visit to a Louis Vuitton factory during which he garnered new-found admiration for the brand and learnt that that its monogram was in fact inspired by a Japanese emblem, bought to Paris for an international exposition in the 19th century. “I really have a great respect for luxury brands, especially those under LVMH. They have amazing products, amazing communication, they put on amazing events, and then the stores are amazing, so everything is perfect,” the artist says. “They’re pre-emptive in responding to needs, and that’s why they survive.”

A similar attention to detail, and a desire to share in novel and sophisticated methods of creating lure him in. Speaking of a collaboration with luxury watchmaker Hublot, Murakami tells us how inspiring he found it to witness a sapphire being first cut digitally, and subsequently carved by hand. “It’s that element of new creative discovery that is meaningful about collaborations,” he says.

Perhaps grand ambition pays off in the form of visibility. Murakami’s mainstream popularity is undisputed, with celebrity fans and collaborators like Pharrell Williams and Drake, and 2.5 million Instagram followers—a massive number for a visual artist. Last December, he collaborated with K-pop royalty Blackpink on a range of merchandise and collectibles, a project which included creating a new character called Pandakashi. For Takashi Murakami Mononoke Kyoto, he worked with Japanese hip-hop musician JP The Wavy to create a theme song for the exhibition.

These collaborations repeatedly allow visual art to be visible in mainstream culture by creating an accessible entry point, an accomplishment Murakami is rightfully credited for. One of the reasons for this is that he specifically considers the audience he’s making work for. He thought about K-pop stars and Korean audiences while making his 2023 Murakami Zombie exhibition at the Busan Museum of Art. “I admire and respect artists like G-Dragon [who collect his work] for their impact on global popular culture,” he says, citing similarities between Japanese and Korean culture as a reason for the success of his collaborative projects. “For the Busan show, I was trying to appeal to the Korean audience by centring it around zombies, which you see everywhere in Korean TV shows and movies.”

In trying to connect with a mainstream audience, the artist channels his own creativity through other forms of expressions, such as anime, a medium that holds a special place in the artist’s diverse range of artistic and cultural media consumption and inspiration. “I’ve been watching anime since my youth and it was really a means for me to escape reality. Now, I’m ageing, and again wanting to escape reality,” he explains. He is currently working on Jellyfish Eyes Part 2, a live-action CGI film meant for a younger audience. Again, working on this film reflects his awareness of his own mortality and life’s fleeting nature, which constantly compel him to create. “I hope to complete this work within the next year or so; I need to accomplish this before I die, which will be soon,” says the artist, who is now in his sixties and has been making art for over three decades.

“I got into art to contend with reality,” Murakami explains. While he didn’t have the skill set to become an anime or manga artist, he says, “ I’m definitely satisfied with what I’ve accomplished here “but my goal is to create a world where children can escape their own reality and say: ‘Oh, I would love to go into this kind of world.’” Murakami has built a fantastical world of colourful characters and vivid landscapes; enter it with childlike curiosity, and you might discover new depths behind his trademark aesthetic.

Special thanks to Advisory Council

Read the March issue here

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