Two concurrent exhibitions document two different sides of the work of Takashi Murakami – a 'pop-up' of 15 new paintings from his 'Ensō' series at his own Tokyo gallery and a solo exhibition at the Mori Art Museum. Pictured: Ensō, Shangri-la, 2015. Courtesy Galerie Perrotin

村上隆(Takashi Murakami)的两次作品同时展览-在森喜朗美术馆(Mori Art Museum)举办的大型个展和在他自己的东京画廊展出的“ENSō”系列中的15幅新画作-为这位当代艺术家重新聚焦于日本传统艺术提供了一个耐人寻味的视角。

森喜朗美术馆展出了50幅作品，其中包括绘画、雕塑和视频，尽管展览在国外广为流传，但这是自2001年以来他在日本举办的第一次重要展览。

无可争议的亮点是一幅极其详细、色彩丰富的100米长的画，它描绘的是佛陀的弟子们在迷幻的风景中变成了一大群鼓鼓的眼睛和无牙的笑容。取名为500 Arhat，灵感来自菅直人ōKazunobu(1866-1863年)创作的一套100张悬挂卷轴。

展览的策展人、艺术史学家野野太郎(Tsuji Nobuo)观察到，它们是“村上春树本人朴实无华的自画像”。

此外，展出的是村上春树的工作指导和素描，由200名来自日本艺术学院的学生帮助完成了日本2011地震和海啸后的工作。穆拉卡米说，这场灾难对他工作的新方向产生了深远的影响，尽管他对现代日本面临的复杂政治和社会问题的商标争议性评论仍然是一个关键主题。例如，巨大的金箔覆盖雕塑，宇宙诞生的呐喊，代表着当代社会在追求发展的重压下崩溃。

与此同时，在他自己的画廊里，一组更为简约、深思的系列作品以“圆圈”(ensō)为特色，这是日本禅宗的一个主题，象征着空虚、统一和无限。在这里，村上春树-他拥有尼洪戈绘画博士学位-重新诠释了传统的液体笔触，在微笑的花朵和头盖骨的背景上使用喷漆。他说这种新的风格是在他把“空心”这个词喷在一幅完整的画上涂鸦之后出现的。

艺术家可能从事复杂的精神主题，但他并没有失去他的古怪的幽默感。当被问到为什么他的ENSō画作是黑色、白色、金色和红色的对比组合时，他开玩笑说，“因为我想有人可能会想买不同颜色的。”

The former is a minimalist, contemplative series of paintings featuring the Ensō or 'circle', a motif in Japanese Zen Buddhism symbolising emptiness, unity and infinity. Pictured: Ensō: Blood and Bones, 2015. Courtesy Galerie Perrotin

When asked why he chose to paint similar designs in red, black and gold, Murakami replied: 'Because I thought someone might want to buy them in different colours.' Pictured: Ensō: Awakened, 2015. Courtesy Galerie Perrotin

Murakami has a PHD in the art of traditional Nihongo painting. Pictured: Ensō: Eros, 2015. Courtesy Galerie Perrotin

According to Galerie Perrotin which arranged the Kaikai Kiki exhibition, the Ensō paintings represent an epiphany for the artist, resulting from quiet and ongoing spiritual practice. Pictured: Hollow White, 2015. Courtesy Galerie Perrotin

The Mori Art Museum's exhibition of 50 works, meanwhile, includes paintings, sculptures and videos, and is the first significant show of his work in Japan since 2001

The undisputed highlight is The 500 Arhats – an extraordinarily detailed and colourful 100-metre-long painting that depicts the Buddha's disciples transformed into a mesmerising riot of bulging eyes and toothless grins amid a psychedelic landscape. Pictured: Murakami in front of The 500 Arhats

The work was inspired by a set of 100 hanging scrolls created by Kanō Kazunobu (1816–1863). Pictured: The 500 Arhats

They are, observes the exhibition's curatorial advisor, art historian Tsuji Nobuo, 'unadorned self-portraits of Murakami himself'. Pictured: The 500 Arhats (detail)

Murakami’s works have been inspired by manga and kawaii culture with his more recent works reflecting ‘monstrous and charming characters alike, as facetious descendants of past myths.’  To mark the exhibition, Galerie Perrotin launched a 128 monograph with a text by Mari Hashimoto and forewords by Takashi Murakami and Emmanuel Perrotin

For instance, the enormous gold-leaf-clad sculpture The Birth Cry of a Universe represents contemporary society collapsing under the weight of the pursuit of development. Pictured: The Birth Cry of a Universe, 2014

An annotated working sketch of The 500 Arhats

keywords:Takashi Murakami, The 500 Arhats, Enso, Mori Art Museum

关键词：村上隆，500 Arhat，Enso，Mori艺术博物馆