Takashi Murakami Born to kill! - M. Matsubara 1997 acrylic on canvas on board 64.7 x 50.2 cm. (25 1/2 x 19 3/4 in.) Signed, titled, dated 'Takashi 97 Born to Kill! M. Matsubara' on the reverse.
Provenance Pinksummer, Genoa Exhibited Genoa, Pinksummer and Newsantandrea, Murakami and Manetas, 19 February – March 2000 Catalogue Essay “An artist is a necromancer… an artist is someone who understands the border between this world and that one… Or someone who makes an effort to know it.”- Takashi Murakami Artistic oeuvre of Takashi Murakami delves into the crucial significance of the polished nonsense and meaninglessness of contemporary culture. Reacting to the current consumer’s hearty appetite for the next big thing, he elevates his manufactured products to an artistic level, the ultimate indulgence for an eager audience. Thought of as a lightning rod in the contemporary art world, Murakami creates a variety of valences between high and low, ancient and modern, and the orient and the occident. Merging conventional Japanese painting styles with modern Western techniques, Murakami creates work “with no meaning”, which resonates loudly with a Japanese audience that devours similar images in “manga” and “anime”. Murakami created his own registered character, Mr. DOB, in 1993 in an efort to manifest an image that would be quintessentially Japanese. Initially a simple, jovial mouse with a big head on a small body that is seemingly derived from an amalgamation of eastern and western animations, Mr. DOB has since been augmented into countless transformations. In Born to Kill!, 1997, Mr. DOB seems to have melted, morphed, and multiplied. It is as if one of Murakami’s Mr. DOB inflatables has been deformed and pushed against a window, its features now restructured into an enigmatic tangle. Murakami’s idiosyncratic character is still easily recognizable, despite the changes in form and personality. Characteristic of Murakami’s pop-infused “superflat” style, the present lot displays a schizophrenic realization of space. The letters “D” and “B” in white flank the face that is shaped like an “O”, spelling out “DOB” upside-down amongst the corporal remains of the animated figure. Whimsical smiles are met with devious grins, while bright eyes have abandoned their anatomical function on the face to participate in a fluid medley of line and colour. Rendered in bright on a fat surface, Born to Kill! is vibrant and inviting, fantastically exhibiting how Murakami has generated a universal infatuation with the buoyant and lighthearted Mr. DOB. ©2003 Takashi Murakami/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved Read More
Takashi Murakami Born to kill! - M. Matsubara 1997 acrylic on canvas on board 64.7 x 50.2 cm. (25 1/2 x 19 3/4 in.) Signed, titled, dated 'Takashi 97 Born to Kill! M. Matsubara' on the reverse.
Provenance Pinksummer, Genoa Exhibited Genoa, Pinksummer and Newsantandrea, Murakami and Manetas, 19 February – March 2000 Catalogue Essay “An artist is a necromancer… an artist is someone who understands the border between this world and that one… Or someone who makes an effort to know it.”- Takashi Murakami Artistic oeuvre of Takashi Murakami delves into the crucial significance of the polished nonsense and meaninglessness of contemporary culture. Reacting to the current consumer’s hearty appetite for the next big thing, he elevates his manufactured products to an artistic level, the ultimate indulgence for an eager audience. Thought of as a lightning rod in the contemporary art world, Murakami creates a variety of valences between high and low, ancient and modern, and the orient and the occident. Merging conventional Japanese painting styles with modern Western techniques, Murakami creates work “with no meaning”, which resonates loudly with a Japanese audience that devours similar images in “manga” and “anime”. Murakami created his own registered character, Mr. DOB, in 1993 in an efort to manifest an image that would be quintessentially Japanese. Initially a simple, jovial mouse with a big head on a small body that is seemingly derived from an amalgamation of eastern and western animations, Mr. DOB has since been augmented into countless transformations. In Born to Kill!, 1997, Mr. DOB seems to have melted, morphed, and multiplied. It is as if one of Murakami’s Mr. DOB inflatables has been deformed and pushed against a window, its features now restructured into an enigmatic tangle. Murakami’s idiosyncratic character is still easily recognizable, despite the changes in form and personality. Characteristic of Murakami’s pop-infused “superflat” style, the present lot displays a schizophrenic realization of space. The letters “D” and “B” in white flank the face that is shaped like an “O”, spelling out “DOB” upside-down amongst the corporal remains of the animated figure. Whimsical smiles are met with devious grins, while bright eyes have abandoned their anatomical function on the face to participate in a fluid medley of line and colour. Rendered in bright on a fat surface, Born to Kill! is vibrant and inviting, fantastically exhibiting how Murakami has generated a universal infatuation with the buoyant and lighthearted Mr. DOB. ©2003 Takashi Murakami/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved Read More
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
