Copyright 2015 A. Colin Raymond

Copyright 2015 A. Colin Raymond RE-EVALUATING MURAKAMI’S SUPERFLAT: TOWARD A CONTEXTUALIZED INTERPRETATION OF CONTEMPORARY JAPANESE ART BY A. COLIN RAYMOND THESIS Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Asian Studies in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2015 Urbana, Illinois Master’s Committee: Associate Professor Robert Tierney, Chair Associate Professor Anne Burkus-Chasson Associate Professor Elizabeth Oyler ii ABSTRACT This thesis examines Murakami Takashi’s Superflat theory and exhibition as well as the ramifications of its success. Developed through the 1990s and the early 2000s, Murakami’s Superflat theory attempts to prove a direct connection between the aesthetics of Edo-period (1603-1868) and contemporary Japanese art. Murakami built his own production studio and branding devices as an attempt to further codify Superflat as a unique movement in Japanese art. As a result of Murakami’s tactics and the popularity of his theory in North America and Europe, many of his contemporaries are frequently analyzed through the lens of Superflat. Yet, the totalizing effect of the Superflat theory does disservice to the majority of Japanese contemporary artists whose work has very little in relation to Murakami’s pop aesthetic. To explore how Murakami achieved this result, this thesis first analyzes the art historical claims made in the Superflat theory. This is followed by an examination of the impetus for and contextualization of the creation of Superflat. As an example of the effect of Murakami’s discursive dominance over conversations of Japanese art in North America, the thesis concludes with an analysis of David Elliott’s 2011 Japan Society exhibition titled Bye Bye Kiity!!! Between Heaven and Hell in Japanese Contemporary Art. The thesis concludes with the assertion that we must fundamentally re-evaluate the ways in which Japanese art is represented, particularly within the United States. iii To the memory of Professor David G. Goodman iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This thesis would not have been possible without the guidance and support of my adviser and chair of my Master’s Thesis Committee, Dr. Robert Tierney, along with Drs. Anne Burkus- Chasson and Elizabeth A. Oyler. Their thoughtful advice was invaluable in helping me to hone my arguments and give focus to a multi-faceted issue with which I have long grappled. I cannot overstate my gratitude for my committee’s thoughtful comments and queries throughout the reviews process. Thanks must also go to my wife, Katherine Randle, for her patience and encouragement during the writing process. Through all the late nights and despite what must have seemed like endless iterations of my argument, she was always there to listen and offer her support. v TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 2 1.1 Figures ........................................................................................................................... 7 CHAPTER 2: THE SUPERFLAT THEORY AND EXHIBITIONS ............................................. 8 2.1 Figures ......................................................................................................................... 20 CHAPTER 3: COMMERCIAL ASPIRATIONS AND THE RATIONALE BEHIND SUPERFLAT’S SUCCESS .......................................................................................................... 23 3.1 Superflat as a Commercial Endeavor .......................................................................... 23 3.2 Murakami and the Problem of Self-Management ....................................................... 29 3.3 Little Boy and the Success of Murakami as Artist-Curator ......................................... 30 3.4 Figures ......................................................................................................................... 34 CHAPTER 4: SUPERFLAT’S REACH IN DAVID ELLIOTT’S BYE BYE KITTY!!! ................. 35 4.1 Figures ......................................................................................................................... 42 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION ...................................................................................................... 45 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................. 47 1 Fig. 1. Murakami Takashi. 727. 1996. Synthetic polymer paint on canvas board, three panels. Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of David Teiger. ARTstor. Web. 31 May 2015. <http://www.artstor.org>. 2 Chapter 1: Introduction The massively successful Japanese contemporary artist Murakami Takashi’s 村上隆 (b. 1962) large-scale triptych titled 727 was created in 1996. Despite being created four years prior to the unveiling of his Superflat manifesto and its associated eponymous exhibition, 727 neatly encapsulates what would eventually become Murakami’s theory of Super Flat Japanese art. Murakami accomplishes this through the juxtaposition of referents to Japanese artistic traditions alongside contemporary commercial or “low” art aesthetic elements. In its composition, 727 references the centuries’ old artistic tradition of hanga 版画 (woodblock prints), while the central figure itself draws upon an anime-like character design aesthetic. While the amalgam of “high” and “low” art was not a new concept by 1996, the particular points of reference themselves may be partially responsible for the popularity Murakami’s work has maintained with North American and European audiences. The bulbous, many-eyed cartoon monstrosity, dubbed Mr. DOB, was a mascot character Murakami created in the early 1990s in part as an attempt to counter the conceptual, text-based artwork popular in Japan at the time.1 2 In Mr. DOB’s 727 incarnation, the character occupies the right center of the triptych’s central panel, crashing in on turbulent ocean waves capped with swirling foam. Larger swells approach from the left of the canvas, threatening to overtake the razor-toothed mascot. The work is painted in the traditional nihonga style 日本画 (Japanese- style painting) in which Murakami was trained at the Graduate School of Fine Arts at the Tokyo University of Fine Art 東京藝術大学. Codified in the late nineteenth century by Ernest 1 Although generally translated into English as Mr. DOB, in Japanese this character’s name is somewhat more playful and is written using the diminutive masculine suffix kun (君). A further discussion of the impetus for the character’s creation will be covered in chapter 3. 2 Murakami Takashi, Summon Monsters? Open the Door? Heal? Or Die? (Asaka, Saitama: Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd., 2001) 132-133. 3 Fenollosa and Okakura Kakuzō (also known as Okakura Tenshin), the nihonga painting technique emphasizes the use of natural, water-based pigments and painting styles similar to those employed by the classical Kanō school.3 Nihonga is often differentiated from yōga 洋画 (Western-style painting), which emphasizes the use of oil-based pigments. In Murakami’s 727, over twenty layers of synthetic polymer paint were applied to the canvas before strategically scraping away these layers in patches in order to reveal the built up paint underneath. The effect of this technique makes the work appear almost as if painted on gold leaf that has been left to weather and age. Through the use of this technique in combination with the triptych format, Murakami’s 727 recalls the long tradition of byōbu-e 屏風絵 (paintings on folding screens).4 Yet this is not Murakami’s only referent to more traditional styles of Japanese art. Even the composition and placement of figures is reminiscent of Katsushika Hokusai’s 葛飾北斎 (1760-1849) ukiyo-e 浮世絵 (woodblock print) The Great Wave at Kanagawa, an image familiar to many viewers with a passing knowledge of Japanese woodblock prints.5 Fig. 2. Murakami’s use of historicized aesthetic elements along with his proclivity for infusing his works with a variety of pop cultural artistic components—particularly referencing anime, manga, and video games—comprise the visual backbone of his market-oriented Theory of Super Flat Japanese Art. In this theory, Murakami argues that the whole of Japanese art is “extremely two-dimensional” (超２次元的), and that this two-dimensionality is a “sense” (感覚) that has 3 Karatani Kōjin, “Japan as Museum: Okakura Tenshin and Ernest Fenollosa,” Japanese Art After 1945: Scream Against the Sky, ed. Alexandra Munroe (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1994) 33. 4 Byōbu-e is at least a thousand-year-old artistic tradition in Japan, although, the technique of painting directly on gold leaf does not come into prominence until the late 15th- and 16th centuries. 5 A similarity also acknowledged by the Museum of Modern Art in their online exhibition catalogue. See The Museum of Modern Art, MoMA Highlights since 1980 (New York: The Museum of Modern Art. 2007) Web. 27 May 2015. <http://www.moma.org/collection/works/88960?locale=en>. 4 run throughout the course of Japanese art history for quite some time.6 This assertion of a connection between the Japanese arts of present and past is not unique, of course. Any given culture’s contemporary artwork must draw upon or in some way be connected to that of past generations. However, the vagueness of this “sense” of two-dimensionality in combination with the assertion of a direct lineage between the arts of past and present, while key to Murakami’s overall project, are unsubstantiated by his

Load more