An Homage to Monogold D

Listed as one of Time Magazine’s “100 Most Influential People” in 2008, Takashi Murakami inhabits multiple worlds and blurs the lines between fine art, quotidian consumer goods, fashion and entertainment. Murakami has a strong international presence, boosted by his collaborations with notable fashion brands and entertainment artists (Louise Vuitton and Uniqlo, for example). The Japanese artist's oeuvre is captivated by juxtaposition and contrast; his formal artistic training is rooted in Japanese nihon-ga painting and more muted tones, while his contemporary creations are highly cartoonish, as well as saturated and diverse in color. The flowers in Murakami’s An Homage to Monogold D (2012) were inspired by the flowers present in nihon-ga drawings. As Murakami observed and drew more flowers over time, the artist was overcome with paradoxical sensations of beauty, nausea, unease, kawaii (or "cute") and menace. The flowers in An Homage to Monogold D are crowded, painted as one would experience crowds in a busy city, but on a flat canvas. While they can be cute with their big smiles, and feel connected to childhood through the use of colors, the overwhelming effect is a sense of “threatening malaise” (T. Murakami, quoted in Takashi Murakami: kaikai kiki, exh. cat., Paris, Fondation Cartier, 2002). Murakami is an artist straddling the world of Eastern and Western art, struggling to find identity in his creations of darling creatures with menacing features.