The Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin will present an exhibition of major and never-before exhibited works by Takashi Murakami, from September 15 to October 17, 2009 in its two gallery spaces in Paris. The exhibition Takashi Murakami Paints Self-Portraits will bring together seventeen paintings, including three monumental works, five sculptures and two films.

Among the paintings in the exhibition are Murakami’s new Chrysanthemums series of tondos (circular-format paintings), which refer to the 17th-century Japanese artist Ogata Kôrin whose white chrysanthemum motifs left a profound impression on Murakami. The flowers stand out on gold or platinum-leaf backgrounds in the purest Japanese tradition. The precious materials and format create a delicate contrast with the fragility of the ethereal plants. Murakami also pays tribute to another influential artist, Andy Warhol, in a series of tondos featuring candy-colored flowers on gold or platinum backgrounds.

For the first time, a set of self-portraits will be exhibited, featuring the artist accompanied by his favorite creatures, including his alter-ego Mr. DOB, whose ambivalent personality shifts from friendly to fierce under the effects of “magic mushrooms.” In the large scale painting HIROPON, Me, And My Lonesome Cowboy (2009), Murakami is surrounded by his famous subversive characters. He also appears alongside two of his most recognizable characters, Kaikai and Kiki, as they float amidst his famous smiling flower motifs or among multiple images of the artist’s face in the large 3 x 6 meter work entitled Hustle’n’Punch By Kaikai And Kiki (2009), in which he plays on the representation and mystification of contemporary artists.
Another monumental painting entitled Planet of Ecology: The Earth, (2008-2009) is a provocative and almost naïve translation of the artist’s preoccupation with Nature and its cycles. Indeed, in a previous animated film Planting the Seeds (2007), the “power of poop” is one of Kaikai and Kiki’s key discoveries.