.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
‘One of the most radical aspects of Murakami’s work is his willingness both to embrace and exploit the idea of his brand, to mingle his identity with a corporate identity and play with that’
Paul Schimmel
Created in 2003, the year in which the artist began his iconic 13-year partnership with Louis Vuitton, Takashi Murakami’s pair of Superflat Monogram paintings epitomise the artist’s enduring fascination with the relationship between high art and fashion. Upon two panels, one each in black and white, Murakami has stencilled the fashion house’s iconic logo in a medley of vivid colours. The bright pinks, blues and reds echo the design the artist used for his inaugural collection of handbags for Louis Vuitton, released that same year. These came to be known as the Murakami Multicolore Monogram, and the collaboration catapulted Murakami from art world star to international celebrity. The aesthetic of overt merchandising evinced in Superflat Monogram is part of the artist’s Superflat movement, which refracts the two-dimensional style of traditional Japanese art through the lens of consumer culture. Drawing on a combination of historical, commercial and popular imagery, Murakami uses these references to interrogate the social realities of a Japanese post-war culture dominated by Western aesthetics. By looking to the tradition of mechanisation, first exploited by Andy Warhol, he produces ‘a flawless mix of high art and lowbrow that can be bought in in any country and consumed anywhere – without diminishing the art’s impact’ (K. Chayka, ‘WTF is… Superflat?’ Hyperallergic, 29 October 2010). By meticulously handcrafting the internationally recognizable logo Superflat Monogram, Murakami riffs on these histories. His paintings both celebrate a globalised culture and rebuffs its ever-advancing force.
Paul Schimmel
Created in 2003, the year in which the artist began his iconic 13-year partnership with Louis Vuitton, Takashi Murakami’s pair of Superflat Monogram paintings epitomise the artist’s enduring fascination with the relationship between high art and fashion. Upon two panels, one each in black and white, Murakami has stencilled the fashion house’s iconic logo in a medley of vivid colours. The bright pinks, blues and reds echo the design the artist used for his inaugural collection of handbags for Louis Vuitton, released that same year. These came to be known as the Murakami Multicolore Monogram, and the collaboration catapulted Murakami from art world star to international celebrity. The aesthetic of overt merchandising evinced in Superflat Monogram is part of the artist’s Superflat movement, which refracts the two-dimensional style of traditional Japanese art through the lens of consumer culture. Drawing on a combination of historical, commercial and popular imagery, Murakami uses these references to interrogate the social realities of a Japanese post-war culture dominated by Western aesthetics. By looking to the tradition of mechanisation, first exploited by Andy Warhol, he produces ‘a flawless mix of high art and lowbrow that can be bought in in any country and consumed anywhere – without diminishing the art’s impact’ (K. Chayka, ‘WTF is… Superflat?’ Hyperallergic, 29 October 2010). By meticulously handcrafting the internationally recognizable logo Superflat Monogram, Murakami riffs on these histories. His paintings both celebrate a globalised culture and rebuffs its ever-advancing force.