Takashi Murakami

Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo
Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York
Acquired by the present owner from the above

Takashi Murakami is a phenomenon in and of himself.  His art explores the boundaries between Japanese High and Low culture and constantly aces the test of viability in the ever-changing world of Contemporary Art.   Born in Tokyo in 1962, Murakami blasted onto the art scene in the early 1990’s with a highly energetic style of painting based on Japanese anime films and manga comics.  Although he was classically trained in the traditional Japanese painting style Nihon-ga, Murakami was exposed to western art in the late 1980’s, dramatically changing the course of his artistic career.  

After seeing word-based artworks by artists Jenny Holzer and Barbara Kruger in the late 1980’s, and finding his inspiration from Japanese contemporary society and language, Murakami conceived Mr. Dob in 1992 from a play on the Japanese word dobojite, (a muddled pronunciation of the work doshite) which means ‘why?’.  When paired with itself and another word, Dobojite dobojite oshamnabe, it becomes a nonsensical Japanese joke.  Mr. Dob always has the same basic format, a D on the left ear, a B in the right ear and the face forms an O.  As Murakami says “In the beginning, then, Mr. Dob did not arise as a character, but simply as a figure with two ears..., Dob being the abbreviation of the joke....only later did he become a character”.  (Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Takashi Murakami, Paris, 2002, p. 75)  With a literal meaning of “Why? Why?”, Mr. Dob is interesting on an aesthetic and intellectual level.

On the surface, Murakami’s work may seem to be about the play-world of comic figures. But in truth, his works are multi-layered and steeped in ironies about Japanese culture.   Mr. Dob looks out at the viewer and asks, “Why is this good” and “Why is this art?”.  As Yusuke Minami notes “...in making the transition from traditional Japanese painting to contemporary art, [Murakami] had to undergo a complete reversal of values and as a result the various conventions and clichés that underlie Contemporary Art appeared strange and lacking in convincing foundation” (Yusuke Minami “Takashi Murakami Strikes Back” in Takashi Murakami summon monsters? open the door? heal? or die?, Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, 2001, p. 62).

It has been argued that Murakami is the Andy Warhol of the 21^st Century.  His keen ability to levitate the ordinary, everyday into a commercial enterprise of Contemporary Art goods is fast making Murakami one of the most sought after artists.  As such, Donbura, 2000, is an excellent example of Murakami’s most famous icon, Mr. Dob.  Smiling out at the viewer with a hint of irony, constantly asking you to ponder his (and your own) existence.