Takashi Murakami opened his latest exhibition, “JAPONISME → Cognitive Revolution: Learning from Hiroshige,” at Gagosian New York, building on a 2024 presentation at the Brooklyn Museum. A second show, “Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow,” opens later this month at the Cleveland Museum of Art, expanding on a 2022 iteration at the Broad in Los Angeles with new works and a monumental installation reimagining a Japanese Buddhist temple. In an interview with ARTnews, Murakami discusses his process of copying historical works—from Hiroshige’s ukiyo-e prints to Monet and Van Gogh—as a method of cultural excavation, incorporating UFOs as symbols of awareness.
This article matters because it highlights Murakami’s ongoing evolution as a major contemporary artist who bridges Japanese tradition and global pop culture. His dual exhibitions at a top commercial gallery and a major museum underscore his sustained influence and the art world’s appetite for cross-cultural, historically engaged work. The interview also reveals how Murakami’s practice confronts art historical narratives, making it relevant to discussions of appropriation, Japonisme, and the role of copying in contemporary art.