The world-famous artist Takashi Murakami is giving away free NFTs!  Murakami fans can mint the special edition NFTs at an upcoming art exhibit at the Gagosian gallery in Le Bourget, France. What do we know about this art exhibit?

What is happening with Takashi Murakami’s new art show?

Murakami’s newest show is named “Understanding the New Cognitive Domain”. The exhibition features some of the artist’s best-known larger paintings, smaller pieces, and several sculptures. Additionally, the show will debut a new Murakami piece.

The new painting is based on the iwai-maku, a specially-made stage curtain traditionally used to commemorate a name succession. The 5-by-23 meter painting pays homage to the Japanese Kabuki actor and producer Ichikawa Ebizo XI’s assumption of the name Ichikawa Danju ̄roˉ XIII. The work’s design was first unveiled in November 2022 at Ichikawa’s Shinnosuke VIII’s first performance and this event marks the first it will be shown to the general public.

The exhibit will also include another extended-format painting. Murakami produced “Dragon in Clouds – Indigo Blue” uses a limited color palette and spreads out across several conjoined sections. Eccentric Japanese artist Soga Shohaku inspired the work with his painting “Dragon and Clouds” created in 1763. Like Soga Shohaku’s piece, Murakami focuses on a dragon in flight, a Buddhist symbol of optimism and good fortune.

Murakami then shows his artistic range with a painting inspired by Mike Kelley’s 1988 piece “Pay for Your Pleasure”. Kelley’s work uses an aesthetic reminiscent of 1980s computer graphics to create a series of banners. These banners portray various artists and writers along with quotes about creative genius. Murakami replaced Kelley’s artists and writers with major economic figures from history including Sumerians, Sima Qian, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Benjamin Franklin, Adam Smith, Karl Marx, John Maynard Keynes, Satoshi Nakamoto, Vitalik Buterin, and Elon Musk. It even features the cryptocurrency Dogecoin.

So what does this have to do with NFTs?

The collection also includes works that reference Murakami’s various NFT projects. There are “lucky cat” paintings and pieces that feature Murakami’s smiling flower characters. One of the highlights of the show, in fact, is a two-meter rainbow neon sign of a Murakami flower in the artist’s trademark Superflat aesthetic.

Furthermore, there are two futuristic, anime-style mirror-plated figures that represent the Clone X NFT collection. Murakami famously contributed work to the project, helping catapult the collection into NFT blue-chip status during the NFT bull market. Murakami’s ability to draw inspiration from work from different eras from the 1700s to the metaverse is a testament to the artist’s respect for the past combined with his fascination with future trends.

The juicy part for NFT collectors, however, is that Murakami designed a special NFT gift for the event. Visitors to the opening day of the exhibition can go to a special giveaway booth to mint the NFT for free. Supply is limited to one per person and will be available from 3pm to 6pm.

The post Murakami’s Multifaceted Art: Paintings, Sculptures, and Limited NFTs at Gagosian appeared first on NFT Evening.

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