Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
Worcester Art Museum presents Samurai! For the many who won't be able to make it or for the many who did enter the doors on April 17th for the reception, here are some photos and some thoughts from the exhibition....
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The commonality of the hands on sword of Zatoichi and Mari Inukai (painted by Kent Williams) The exhibition concept began last year, somewhere before the furious cold his the East Coast. In short, the idea was to let the original...
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Worcester Museum of Art updated their Samurai! page. Opening Party April 17th! Link Artists in the Exhibition On View
: Katsuya Terada,
Ferris Plock,
Rob Sato,
Kent Williams,
Mu Pan,
Miya Ando,
Moira Hahn,
Yuko Shimizu, Masakatsu Sashie,
Jed Henry,
James Jean,...
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I'm curating an exhibition titled, Samurai! at Worcester Art Museum in Worcester, Mass. It begins in April and continues through September. I'm including some great folks, some newer to me and some not so new to me. This article lists, ...
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In a small crowded area in downtown LA, Takashi Murakami said, “It’s like when I first saw Giant Robot magazine in New York.” It’s been years since I’ve spoken with Murakami who in between our last meetings, has gone from superstar to megastar, from world wide artist and now filmmaker. I’m not sure which is greater, but he’s the bigger one. Takashi Murakami was the subject of a Q and A at the Orpheum Theater in Los Angeles. The brightly lit marquee spelled out his name as if he were a movie or a band. A line of many recognizable art fans formed outside an hour early. Over 1400 tickets were sold to see him speak with Pico Iyer, an author of ten books who has lived in Japan for decades. It’s part of the Broad series of talks which features interviews with artists and is a powerful set up for their own up-and-coming museum in downtown LA across from MOCA. Pre-talk, I got to go to the upstairs vip area. Mark Ryden, Eli Broad, Murakami, Tim Blum and a crew of artists I’ve had the pleasure to work with, hang out. Takashi appeared with his mini convoy. Translator, photographer, and perhaps assistant. It was nice to catch up with Takashi, and it went into a blur. It was a conversation about our lives. It was nice to see him continue his hustle and still be chill. He’s obviously hit that mark where he can be an otaku and a goofy guy wearing a plush pink hat. He can say what he feels, do what he wants, and still be part of art history. He’s wise enough to know that he doesn’t have to care so much. Do people need to love him, do people still think he’s a heel, does it matter? No. I don’t think so. Joanne Heyler Curator of the Broad Hug photos-don’t like them, but this one works, maybe because it’s blurry. These days, he makes giant art pieces including one that’s 100 meters long. His studio is still gigantic, he still has tons of minions, and he’s still hard working. He’s splitting art time with cinema, which is obvious after seeing his short pieces like the Inochi interstitials and his Louis Vuitton animation. The talk spanned his personal history, his work with the art establishment in Japan, Fukushima and his own giving back to art. It barely scraped the surface on topics that can be extrapolated into hour long conversations. He mentions that his helpers basically say “fuck you” when a project is done and they’re disgruntled and leaving his “factory”. He mentions that his job is to say “no” and not be satisfied which is basically buying him time to perhaps say “yes” after everything is done and each possible avenue is explored. It’s that drive that makes him Murakami. Most won’t understand, and that’s for the better. Talks like this often go too fast, and the fella who held up the 5 minutes...
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