Takashi Murakami. His work speaks for itself. It’s big. It’s bold. It’s beautiful. And it won’t be ignored.
On February 21st, Gagosian presented ‘GYATEI 2‘ new works by Takashi Murakami, as the 2019 “Oscars show”, a much anticipated annual fixture on the Los Angeles cultural calendar. And anticipated it was… I stood in line for over 40 minutes to get into the gallery on this particular 49 degree night, hoping they wouldn’t close the doors before myself, all of the other clamoring devotees of Murakami’s work could enter.
If you understand Angelenos, then you know any temperature below 60 degrees might as well be considered a major snow storm, because we don’t do cold. But we were committed. We huddled together en masse outside the sleek gallery space on 456 North Camden Drive, watching the cameras flash through the slotted window of this very crowded exhibition. Apparently I wasn’t the only one who saw the sponsored ad on Facebook, so yes, those things do pay off sometimes.
This wasn’t my first time seeing Murakami’s work. My first exposure to Murakami was at his MOCA retrospective in 2007. Room after room of larger than life works, left me spellbound. Last week I attended FRIEZE LA opening night at Paramount Studios, and was drawn to a massive circular piece that I didn’t realize was his, until I read the placard. And once I’d looked closer at some of the details I thought, of course it’s his.
Once you learn the visual vocabulary of an artist, it’s hard to miss their work. The ethereal brush strokes of Renoir, the crayon like short strokes of Cezanne, the bold thick raised paint of Van Gogh, Warhol‘s screen prints… every successful artist has to find their voice. That’s what makes them stand out in a crowd, and it’s how you’re able to spot their work from across the room. This is why it’s so important to spend as much time as possible at art galleries and art museums. Your eyes begin to learn a new language that your mouth may not have words for, yet. Murakami clearly has found his voice, so go see this show. At the very least, it’s a happy show with bright primary and secondary colors, paying homage to emoji’s and the highly coveted gold Oscar statue.
Show closes April 13, 2019
