This in-process shot of Murakami's latest painting, Picture of Fate: I Am But a Fisherman Who Angles in the Darkness of His Mind, is the most engaging image associated with this whole fiasco. I was so excited to see this work, and was so disappointed with the final product. The Gagosian website touts "highly refined classical Japanese painting techniques" used to execute the piece. Something about Japanese laquer? Did they mean to say the airbrushes they used were made in Japan? The surface of the work is complex, but chaotic. Highly predictable marks and patterning leave nothing for the eye to latch onto, and no way to travel over the surface. Maybe I need to watch more anime? I could only get interested when I got REALLY close to the surface, and then I got nervous that the guard watching the piece might have a few choice words for me, or maybe a tazer or something. I also don't feel too convinced with the ties that Murakami claims to be making with Zen Buddhism in this piece. Well actually it's the press release that chooses to do some name dropping of "another famous outsider" from Japan, the aescetic Daruma. I'm not sure Murakami's work is best approached through comparisons with spiritual figures of the long ago past. He seems to be more about the present, especially the Western/Eastern dichotomy. The current "superflat"culture developed following the dropping of Little Boy and Fat Man, the first of many uniquely American entities to fall on Japanese soil.
I think this more recent historical issue is an important and engaging aspect of Murakami's work. Also, over the past few years he has gone from selling Louis Vuitton bags to titling works after quotes from Zen monks. Is he making fun of Zen traditions? Or the people who claim to uphold them? I'm not sure. As Alan Watts might say, "Murakami is funny thing". Maybe I havn't figured him out yet. But that is still a bad painting.
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