In a country like India, with a tradition of hand-crafting even simple everyday goods, art is fiercely protected as the unique flowering of the magical mind of the artist. Murakami triumphantly subverts this mindset.
From flat fluorescent paintings to plastic key rings, Murakami creates art forms that flaunt mass production and digital technology. His forms are derived from Manga and Anime, popular art forms. Rather than eulogise them as neo-kitsch, Murakami lets them actively inform his consciousness and work.
He designs his works on Adobe, before an entire workshop turns them into hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of art. His giant sculptures are created in a factory which also runs like a well-managed commercial operation.
Technology apart, this means of art production erases the gap between high art and common craft. This effortless blending is a way of embracing diverse art forms, without hierarchy. You can buy a small artifact made in his factory, or a special Louis Vuitton line he's created using the space-craft like eyeballs you'll find popping out of his work. Each is authentic, and adjustable to individual budgets.
But Murakami is no documenter of the world. He teases out the nuanced, the unspoken, the forgotten. He is also the voyeur on the street, seeking out the profanity within.
Two of his spectacular sculptures are overtly sexual
