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Murakami @ MOCA

I went to the members’ preview of Murakami’s retrospective, survey, or whatever MOCA calls it.

I never saw a problem with the Louis Vuitton booth, and it fit in quite well with the overall installation and body of work. I saw at least one member with bags under his arms. I also liked the all-white-attired staff in the shop. It was a bit alien being in the boutique, but no more so than being in one of their stores anywhere.

In my opinion the best painting in the show was the painting on the outside wall of the boutique, 727-272. Another set of paintings I liked was of smiling flowers that appear to fold around a sphere. They were good images, but as with most of his painting they could be vinyl prints and not really lose any impact.

I don’t know if this particular one is in the show, but as way of example here is a flower ball.

TAKASHI MURAKAMI
Flower Ball (3-D), Kindergarten, 2007
Acrylic and silver gold leaf on canvas mounted on board
39-1/2 inches diameter

There was no need for Kaikai Kiki to have a booth within the exhibition like LV. MOCA functionally turned their bookstore into a booth for them (I am not passing judgment, more a point of fact).

Next door at the Japanese American National Museum, there is going to be a Giant Robot biennale art exhibition opening on Nov. 3rd. They currently have a nice exhibition about the Japanese influence on gardens in the US up until Jan. 13th, which is also the duration of the Giant Robot exhibition.