KOTONDO and MURAKAMI
Works of radically different types from Japan present a nice opportunity to compare and gain insights into the country’s influential culture. Torii Kotondo (1900-1976) belongs to the long and great tradition of Japanese woodblock prints which include famous image makers like Hiroshige and Utamaro. Japanese woodblocks exported to Europe in the 19th century were a vital spark that charged European artists like Degas and van Gogh and became an important factor in international Modernism.
The durability of Japanese style and art in the face of aggressive US and European dominance since then is now exemplified by Takashi Murakami (born 1962). His unique and decidedly Japanese work belongs with Damien Hirst and Jeff Koons to an über-cool set of international contemporary artists who have become famous by blurring the line between High and Low Art. All three have confirmed their place at the leading edge of contemporary art by embracing advertising and contemporary graphics and making it their own.
Koons wholesale appropriation of ads and Murakami’s annexation of logo culture effectively invites the unwanted guest into the sitting room, makes him comfortable, plies him with compliments while stealing his wallet letting the air out of the tyres of his car parked outside. It’s an unlikely alliance and the pseudo cosiness of it - or is it sell-out? - gives the work its edge and a fascination.
Kontondo’s work also relates to pop-culture. Japanese woodblocks were art available to a mass audience. His work now has an important place in the History of Art. Murakami inverts the dynamic by drawing on pop and disposable imagery to create objects now drawing visitors to museums and galleries.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW 1/10 OF KOTONDO'S WORK IN THE MENZIES ONLINE CATALOGUE