Likky Likey: Murakami exhibit

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Murakami exhibit - the sequel

The New York Times had an article today detailing Takashi Murakami's arrival to the Brooklyn Museum for a limited time exhibit, a part two, if you will, of the exhibit that just ended in LA's MOCA. This one promises to be the most comprehensive retrospective of his work to date, and judging from the behind-the-scene photos of the exhibit set-up, I am sure that the art will be very exciting to see in person.

Back in Oct. of last year, I had really played with the idea of flying all the way to LA (since I was going to be in Vegas in early Jan08 anyways) and making a pit stop to check out the exhibit. Really, what was driving me wasn't just the fact that I was a fan of Murakami's art, but the fact that there would be a Louis Vuitton boutique situated in the middle, and that limited edition bags and accessories would be for sale! Any LV purveyor would know by now of the now legendary collaboration between Murakami and Marc Jacobs. Those multi-colored, cherry blossom-infused, cerise-covered bags brought in a lot of dough for the conglomerate, so while the current LV collection is with Richard Prince, it is the Murakami magic that continues to morph and synthesize into other on-going projects. This exhibit promises to be the same. The Brooklyn Museum website makes no mention of the store, but the NYT made plenty of mention of it, and they even list out some delectable goodies that are for sale. (Sadly, no pics.) The prices seemed to have risen considerably compared to the estimates of the last exhibit, which ranged between $875-$920. Inflation, and during a time of recession!

"A leather strap for a cellphone carries a $220 price tag; handbags range from $1,310 to $2,210. He has designed three new patterned-canvas wall hangings just for this exhibition; printed in editions of 100 each, the first 50 will be offered at the shop for $6,000 apiece, and the rest at $10,000 apiece. Other leather goods designed for the show will be for sale too."

Anyhow, now that the exhibit is on my side of the pond, I think I will try to get a weekend down to the fabulous city of Manhattan, and see if I can make it into the exhibit before all the goodies are gone. As I've been very good and haven't purchased a new bag in almost a year (and promised myself no more bags!), this will certainly be a test of wills.