#3 Review

Flowers and Skulls by Takashi Murakami

Takashi Murakami seems to be a familiar figure for us Hong Konger because of the LV cherry blossom series that he designed. I never learnt to appreciate this series, for I don’t like the monogram of LV in the first place, and the cherry blossom pattern does not help increase its appeal to me. Undeniably, this series did leave an impression of the name Takashi Murakami on my mind. And this time, I came to visit his exhibition Flowers and Skulls and found it quite interesting and inspiring.

The Cherry Blossom Louis Vuitton Handbag designed by Takashi Murakami

My impression

Standing in the Gagosian Gallery, my first impression of this exhibition is that it includes various colours, which gives a jolly feeling. However, when I stayed a little longer and observed more carefully the details of the paintings, a contradictory feeling began to caught me. On the one hand, the flowers which usually symbolize vitality striked me as terrifying; on the other hand, the skulls which usually symbolize death and terror looked adorable to me.

I was interested in this blue painting of flowers at first glance, since it has a beautiful blue color. But when I stared longer, it gave me a creepy feeling in that blue and purple flowers looked poisoned and their facial expressions are stark and stiff. They reminded me of the unearthly plants in far-away future depicted in a Japanese comic named The Drifting Classroom by  Kazuo Umezu.

 

On the contrary, the skulls seemed living and burgeoning.

After doing some research online, I found the statement of Takashi Murakami, which explains that my feelings are reasonable.

Takashi Murakami said:

“A child told me after he saw the flower pattern: ‘Those are not real smiles. Something seemed hidden behind them.’ The kid was right...I combined flowers and skulls together this time. Skulls usually represent death, but they are colourful in my works. We will die, but at least we are alive now. ”

Structure of the paintings

Flowers and Skulls, they look so different, yet in a way they can be put together. Special drawing techniques need to be adopted in order to better achieve certain effect.

Takashi Murakami said:

“The smiling flowers seem protruding while the surly skulls seem caved in. Flowers and skulls, convex and concave, high and low. In structure, they create a strong contrasting effect, which is the most challenging part of this work.”

In my opinion, he did a good job. When standing in front of the paintings, I tried as close as possible to approach them because I often had the feeling that they were three-dimensional. While Takashi Murakami is famous for “superflat”style and ethos with his works distracting from the perspective ethos of the traditional western arts, the details of his works somehow show subtle solidity.

Reference in art history

Takashi Murakami juxtaposes such distinctly contradictory concepts as joy and terror, optimism and pessimism together into fusion and creates a new kind of inspiration. His works reminds me of a painting shown in a previous class called The Ambassadors by Hans HOLBEIN the Younger. Although the style of Takashi Murakami and Hans Holbein the Younger may be completely different, skulls are used by both artists as part of the contrast. In Hans’ painting, the fancy clothes represents peace and happiness, but the anamorphic skull represents death that always awaits in spite of all the fortune and social status one may have.

The Ambassadors, 1533, Hans HOLBEIN the Younger

Conclusion

Takashi Murakami believes that first-ranked works of art are those who can be understood by many people. If he can conquer the platform between different cultures, he will have the power to make the western world take more interest in eastern art and culture.

I agree with this view. Unlike other post-modernist artists, his works are pleasant and approachable. He has rid modern art of the daunting stereotype of obscurity and made more accessible the messages that he tries to tell. Isn’t it good?