LOS ANGELES – The Broad announced new exhibition, Takashi Murakami: Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow, running from May 21 to September 25, 2022.
Murakami’s first monograph exhibition at the museum will feature 18 works, as well as immersive environments developed in tandem with the artist and his studio, Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd., and will include the entirety of The Broad’s collection of the artist’s works.
Additionally, Murakami’s exhibition will coincide with the release of a catalogue that considers the artist’s practice through the Broad collection and key loans. Published by DelMonico Books, The Broad, and Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd., the catalogue will feature essays by The Broad Curator Ed Schad, Pico Iyer, and a conversation with Murakami.
“Artworks in these exhibitions speak to recovery, resistance, and even beauty in the face of deep social and environmental upheaval,” said The Broad Founding Director Joanne Heyler.
“Our dual pandemics of racism and COVID-19 lay bare many myths embedded in modern American identity. The other spring special exhition This Is Not America’s Flag contemplates the state of national symbolism, shines light on U.S. history and present, and questions perceptions, asking vital questions about what we stand for as individuals and as a society.
“Takashi Murakami’s work likewise reflects within its complex iconography a response to times of crisis and uncertainty, whether connected to postwar Japan or the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
“By re-visiting some of his most beloved and well-known works, contextualized within onsite environments developed for The Broad, the logic of Murakami’s work in Takashi Murakami: Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow offers an inspiring sense of continuity and history, and beauty during times of trouble.”
The Broad will release timed tickets for access to both exhibitions at ticketing.thebroad.org on Friday, April 15, at 10 a.m. PT.
Tickets are $18 for adults, $12 for students (with valid student ID), free for children 17 and under, and will include same-day general admission to The Broad’s third floor galleries, which feature a frequently changing selection of works from the Broad collection, one of the world’s leading collections of postwar and contemporary art. Additional times for free access will be announced.
Murakami’s exhibition will allow museum visitors to experience his expansive artistic universe, with both recent works and ones from earlier in his career.
Exploring subject matter such as globalization, postwar Japan, pop culture, and religious iconography, the works will span sculpture, painting, wallpaper, and immersive installations.
At the heart of the presentation will be two of the artist’s monumental paintings, 100 Arhats (2013) and In the Land of the Dead, Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow (2014), 32-feet wide and 82-feet wide respectively. Also on view will be the 1999 sculpture DOB in the Strange Forest (Blue DOB), which features Murakami’s iconic anime-inspired character Mr. DOB, one of many figures that the artist has created throughout his career.
Murakami Exhibition Publication
The accompanying catalogue that will share its name with the exhibition will be published in May 2022 by The Broad with cooperation from Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. and DelMonico Books.
Introducing readers to Murakami through The Broad’s substantial collection, the book will feature twelve collection works and key loans including his early sculpture Flower Matango (b) (2001-2006) and 100 Arhats (2013).
Accompanying an essay by Ed Schad, works such as Hustle'n'Punch By Kaikai And Kiki (2009), Of Chinese Lions, Peonies, Skulls, And Fountains (2011), and Tan Tan Bo a.k.a Gerotan: Scorched by the Blaze in the Purgatory of Knowledge (2018) will be lavishly illustrated.
A highlight of the catalogue will be a published conversation between Murakami and Schad where they discuss making art in times of crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic or the Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami of 2011. The book will be available at The Shop at The Broad for $45.
About The Broad
The Broad is a contemporary art museum founded by philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad on Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles.
The museum offers free general admission and presents an active program of rotating temporary exhibitions and innovative audience engagement, all within a landmark building designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro in collaboration with Gensler.
The Broad is home to the Broad collection, which is one of the world’s leading collections of postwar and contemporary art.
The 120,000-square-foot building features two floors of gallery space and is the headquarters of The Broad Art Foundation’s worldwide lending library, which has been loaning collection works to museums around the world since 1984.
