Takashi Murakami’s monograph exhibition at The Broad is a response to crisis and uncertainty

Contemporary art museum, The Broad, will soon be adorned with Japanese artist Takashi Murakami’s iconic Superflat artworks, in what will mark the artist's first monograph exhibition at the museum. The exhibition, titled ‘Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow’ elicits a reaction that is similar to the one begat by the artist’s uncharacteristically styled artworks. The showcase will feature 18 of his works in a space especially curated to house his artistic creations. These works were created by the artist as a response to the trying times that the global community is currently witnessing and experiencing. Murakami captures his response to these extant events in his original artistic style, thus producing a unique and relevant body of work. “Artworks in these exhibitions speak to recovery, resistance, and even beauty in the face of deep social and environmental upheaval,” says Joanne Heyler, Founding Director of The Broad.

Founded by philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad, the eponymous contemporary art museum is spread across an area of 120,000sqft property. Housed in a three-storey building designed by the architecture firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro, the gallery regularly hosts temporary exhibitions in its spaces, while also featuring a 2,000 pieces large permanent collection dedicated to postwar and contemporary artworks. Some of the artists whose works populate the permanent section of the gallery include Ed Ruscha, Cindy Sherman, Roy Lichtenstein, Jeff Koons and Andy Warhol. The building also serves as the headquarters of The Broad Art Foundation’s international lending library, which regularly lends collection works to museums from across the globe since 1984.

Apart from showcasing Murakami’s latest creations, the exhibition will also feature the full retinue of all his works that are part of The Broad’s permanent collection. In an attempt to deliver an immersive and thorough showcase, the halls of the gallery will be designed to mirror the contemporary artist’s distinctive style as well as to capture the essence of his studio, Kaikai Kiki Co. Ltd. The showcase will also mark the release of a catalogue, published by DelMonico Books, The Broad, and Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd., and dedicated to the artist’s works.

Murakami’s artworks, characterised by a bold array of colours, carries complex iconography that has been created as a response to the crisis and uncertainty that has come to define our lives in recent times. He also revisits historical events marked by similar or worse collective emotions, such as the Fukushima nuclear disaster or the postwar period in Japan. In addition to referencing sorrowful events that have tainted lives and memories, Murakami also draws elements from his previous works to show beauty in adversity and to elicit a sense of hope in times of trouble. This range of old and new themes, captured in his works, give way to the representation of globalisation, pop culture and religious iconography through sculptures, paintings, wallpapers and immersive installations. Some of the paintings and artworks that will feature as part of the exhibition include the ‘100 Arhats’, ‘In the Land of the Dead’ and ‘Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow’ paintings as well as the ‘DOB in the Strange Forest’ sculpture.

The exhibition ‘Takashi Murakami: Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow’ will remain on display from May 21, 2022 to September 25, 2022 at The Broad in Los Angeles, California, USA.