MCA Talk:
ASL Tour of Takashi Murakami
- Griffin Galleries of Contemporary ArtFourth Floor220 E Chicago Ave, Chicago, IL 60611map
Announcement
This event has been rescheduled for June 20.
About
Join us for a tour of Takashi Murakami: The Octopus Eats Its Own Leg led by an American Sign Language–speaking guide along with a spoken-language translator.
Related content
Blog
- Quotable Artist: Takashi Murakami
Thanks to the internet and the proliferation of social media, the gap between artists and audiences is closing. The mystery of what artists think, especially in regards to their artwork,...- Long A bulbous cartoon creature fills the saturated blue background of this wide rectangular painting full of bright, ecstatic colors. It is surrounded by dozens of smaller cartoon figures. Topped by two circular, multicolored ears, the figure has large, drooping eyes and a wide mouth—nearly as wide as its head—that opens in a menacing grin, revealing jagged rows of sharp black teeth. Covered with blotches of white and muted greens, oranges, pinks, and reds, its body blends in with a similarly colored hill below it. Two small feet with overgrown nails and a tiny pair of testicles and penis, however, differentiate the two forms. A thick, multicolored goo oozes from the corners of the creature’s mouth, and the globs of orange, brown, red, cream, and blue coalesce on the land below. With long white arms, one of which holds a staff topped by colorful skulls, the looming figure appears to preside over small creatures taking part in grotesque, brightly colored scenes, including a few critters on the far left, who purge variegated sludge; another who chomps down on a multicolored phallus out of which an even smaller figure emerges; and one on the right with squinting, watering eyes who opens its teeth-filled mouth to ingest a grub-like form with protruding spikes. The painting evokes a jubilant sense of chaos. The bottom edge of the canvas is lined with low rolling hills sparsely dotted with various two-dimensional daisies sporting big red smiles. A few clusters of fluffy white clouds in the background come in contact with two thick green lines that are visible between the hills, giving the impression of a horizon line. Though the relative size of the hills and the horizon line would suggest a great distance between them, the landscape appears foreshortened.
- Takashi Murakami Screens Jellyfish Eyes at the MCAInternationally renowned artist Takashi Murakami recently traveled to Chicago to screen his film Jellyfish Eyes to a very enthusiastic audience that packed the Edlis Neeson Theater to capacity with many...
- Long Two children, a boy and a girl smile, arm in arm, as they are being hugged by a large grey depiction of a dog. The dog character is about twice as tall and three times as wide as the children, with long bushy grey fur. His ears hang over his face and cover his eyes, giving him a very light hearted and silly expression. The boy is holding a pink object that resembles a bouquet of flowers in shape, but looks slightly otherworldly and alien, in that it looks like a series of bubbly, pink teardrops.
