Takashi Murakami: The Octopus Eats Its Own Leg is the first major retrospective of Takashi Murakami’s paintings to be shown in Canada. Takashi Murakami: The Octopus Eats Its Own Leg is a major retrospective exhibition of the monumental paintings of intern
Date/Time: May 3 2018, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm
Vancouver, Vancouver Art Gallery | Event calendarCost: $24.00
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Spanning three decades of the artist’s career—from his monumental paintings of the 1980s to new, never-before-seen works—this critical survey reveals the consistent themes and profound engagement with history that have guided the artist’s practice. More than fifty paintings and sculptures in the exhibition highlight a dedication to craftsmanship and uninhibited imagination mining a diverse field of conceptual and cultural references extending from folklore to art history and popular culture.
The exhibition takes its title “The Octopus Eats Its Own Leg” from an ancient Japanese parable, tako ga jibun no ashi wo kurau. It refers to a situation in which one survives for the time being by feeding on or sacrificing oneself. The octopus eats its own leg to survive, but does so knowing the tentacle will regenerate. The phrase symbolises the cyclical nature of Murakami’s practice and the creative output of the Kaikai KiKi studio. Murakami is the octopus: he consumes history, culture and even his own oeuvre and fame to persevere as an artist.
The Artist:
Takashi Murakami was born in 1962 in Tokyo, Japan. He studied at Tokyo University of the Arts, Japan, (formerly, Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music), where he received his BFA in 1986, his MFA in 1988, and his Ph.D. in 1993. He founded the Hiropon Factory in Tokyo in 1996, which later evolved into Kaikai Kiki, an art production and art management corporation. In addition to the production and marketing of Murakami’s art and related work, Kaikai Kiki functions as a supportive environment for the fostering of emerging artists.
Murakami’s works have been exhibited in many solo and group exhibitions. Recent major museum exhibitions include Summon monsters? Open the door? Heal? Or die?, Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo (2001); Takashi Murakami: Made in Japan, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (2001); Kaikai Kiki: Takashi Murakami, Foundation Cartier pour l‘art contemporain, Paris (2002; travelled to Serpentine Gallery, London); ©MURAKAMI, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (2007; travelled to Brooklyn Museum, New York; Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt; and Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao through 2009); Takashi Murakami Versailles, Château de Versailles, France (2010); Murakami: Ego, Qatar Museums Authority, Qatar (2012); Arhat Cycle, Palazzo Reale, Milan (2014); Murakami: The 500 Arhats, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo (2015); Murakami by Murakami, Astrup Fearnley Museet, Oslo, Norway (2017); and Takashi Murakami: Under the Radiation Falls, Garage Museum of Contemporary, Moscow, Russia (2017).
Takashi Murakami currently lives and works in Tokyo and New York City.
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