Takashi Murakami - Contemporary Art Day Sale London Sunday, June 29, 2008 | Phillips

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  • Provenance

    Blum & Poe, Santa Monica

  • Catalogue Essay

    One of the most influential and acclaimed artists to have emerged from Asia in the late twentieth century, Murakami has created a wide-ranging body of work that consciously bridges fine art, design, animation, fashion, and popular culture. A recognizable and playful signature style has led Murakami into the leading art galleries and museums in the world displaying his playful, psychedelic and cartoon like flowers, toys and figures. Blurring the boundaries between fine art and ‘trash' or ‘low' art the artist creates marketable goods magnified from elements of pop culture, mass media, and Japanese culture. In Cosmos, three flowers peer out from the centre of a board canvas, smiling, bright and illuminating cartoon figures which produce a sense of happiness and intrigue where behind the cuteness lies a darker substance which the viewer is left to untangle.

  • Artist Biography

    Takashi Murakami

    Japanese • 1962

    Takashi Murakami is best known for his contemporary combination of fine art and pop culture. He uses recognizable iconography like Mickey Mouse and cartoonish flowers and infuses it with Japanese culture. The result is a boldly colorful body of work that takes the shape of paintings, sculptures and animations.

    In the 1990s, Murakami founded the Superflat movement in an attempt to expose the "shallow emptiness of Japanese consumer culture." The artist plays on the familiar aesthetic of mangas, Japanese-language comics, to render works that appear democratic and accessible, all the while denouncing the universality and unspecificity of consumer goods. True to form, Murakami has done collaborations with numerous brands and celebrities including Kanye West, Louis Vuitton, Pharrell Williams and Google.

    View More Works

540

Cosmos (Three Vines)

1998
Acrylic on canvas mounted on wooden panel.  
34.5 x 34.5 cm. (13 5/8 x 13 5/8 in).
Signed and dated ‘TAKASHI ‘98’ on the reverse.

Estimate
£70,000 - 90,000 

Sold for £74,450

Contemporary Art Day Sale

30 June 2008, 10am & 2pm
London