Takashi Murakami's First Major Russian Exhibition at Garage Museum

Takashi Murakami will have his first major solo exhibition in Russia at the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow, opening September 29. The show is structured into five sections focusing on different aspects of Japanese culture. One section, Sutajito, will recreate Murakami's factory run by Kaikai Kiki Corporation since 1996, where his studio assistants will continue producing works throughout the exhibition. Another section, The Little Boy and the Fat Man, references the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 and explores their impact on Japanese visual culture. Kawaii will feature popular characters like Pokémon and Hello Kitty alongside Murakami's contributions to the genre, including his 2013 film Jellyfish Eyes. The exhibition will also pair Murakami's works with 18th- and 19th-century Japanese prints and paintings from the Pushkin Museum and the State Museum of Oriental Art in Moscow. The Garage Museum was designed by Rem Koolhaas and is directed by Dasha Zhukova.