Review of an Exhibition about Artist Takashi Murakami at the Vancouver Show

Introduction

The Octopus Eats its Leg is a very intricate collection, its complexity being borne of the wide variance in both composition and subject matter of the pieces. Notably, some of the artworks in the collection are separated by decades in many cases, and in the entire collection-which comprises over 50 works, according to Vancouver art Gallery Website-it is easy to note that Magic Ball II is the most riveting (Murakami). The painting, which was made in 1999, not only shines an artistic light on the nexus of American and Japanese socio-economic and cultural landscapes in the Post World War II era but also embodies Murakami's style; an ethos, that is, the Superflat concept (Murakami).

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Magic Ball II is, at first sight, a rather simple expression of what would pass for a highly abstract idea. Indeed, it is not possible for one to immediately understand the artist's intention because of the apparent vagueness of the forms made by the acrylic on canvas. The obscurity of the image is, however, easily decodable when approached as a metaphor, as is the case with all art that possesses "anime-ic" properties (Art in Anime). Magic Ball II is a "flattened" blend of anime and manga, capturing spheroidal and spherical objects suspended against a wavy blue-brown backdrop. This particular feature may lead the careful observer to conclude that the artist was trying to capture a popular late 20th or early 21st-century abstract concept, perhaps, the popular science fiction subject of spaceships.

Magic Ball II is very compelling; the work elicits positive feelings in the viewer's attempt to decipher it because, as noted above, it is a relatively complex piece. Everything in the artwork is worth seeing, and the play of colors on the spherical objects is easily the most valuable component of the creation. By and large, the entire exhibition is even more compelling than Magic Ball II, especially because of the very imposing nature of the imagery in works like 100 Arhat. The application of the Superflat philosophy and style is in full effect in all the works in the collection, a fact that is expected because the artist is the founder of the movement and conforms to it at all times (Murakami). Admittedly, there is no singular theme in the exhibition because it spans a collection of over 50 paintings and sculptures, but it is clear to see that it embodies both conventional subjects such as consumerism in Magic Ball II and more eccentric elements such as spirituality and moral philosophies in works like 100 Arhat.

The subject matter of the artwork above adopts a more familiar meaning when it is studied with the fundamentals of manga and anime in context, and also in full regard to the philosophical constituents of Superflat as an art movement. Superflat is steeped in Japanese graphic art forms but derives just as much from animation and the fine arts for its visual characteristics while dwelling on pop culture and consumerism for the subject matter (Murakami). Understandably, the high correspondence between Magic Ball II and the pop culture/animation notions of spaceships and the tendency of people to consume science fiction very easily puts the idea of extra-terrestrial technology as a top contender for the rather obscure objects in the painting (Menu 600).

Conclusion

Summarily, Magic Ball II is the ultimate embodiment of Murakami's artistry and the philosophies of the Superflat movement. It would be unfair to not give credit to the artist for the strong visual pull of the image and its openness to diverse interpretation despite the apparent simplicity of some of its components such as the backdrop to the objects in the work. For simple acrylic on canvas, Magic Ball II is truly impressive. However, one would not be too far from the truth if they opined that even with a firm grasp on the context and the ideological background of the art form, it remains a tad too complex. Compared to other objects in the exhibition, such as 100 Arhat, Magic Ball II may be less effective at expressing Murakami's ideas and concerns even as it commands appraisal for being the ideal work of Superflat.

Works Cited

"Art in Anime: The Creative Quest as Theme and Metaphor." Vol 50, no. 02, 2012, pp. 50-0665-50-0665. American Library Association, doi:10.5860/choice.50-0665.

"Murakami - Vancouver Art Gallery". Vanartgallery.Bc. Ca, 2018, www.vanartgallery.bc.ca/murakami/#the-exhibition.Menu, Michel. "Analysis of Works of Art Down to the Nanometric Scale". Microelectronic Engineering, vol 83, no. 4-9, 2006, pp. 597-603. Elsevier BV, doi: 10.1016/j.mee.2005.12.020.