TAKASHI MURAKAMI: UNFAMILIAR PEOPLE — SWELLING OF MONSTERIZED HUMAN EGO

behavior informed by historical and art-historical references and a wry sense of humor. This exhibition focuses in particular on the artist's use of monsters as a vehicle for reflecting on contemporary life. While monsters have been a consistent motif for Murakami from the beginning, these works find them taking on new forms in response to the influence of social media and a global pandemic, when the people around us — and their self-presentation in online interactions — sometimes became startlingly unfamiliar. In addition to premiering several neverbefore-seen new works, the exhibition includes an epic seventyfive-foot diptych spanning an entire wall of the Pavilion and an installation blanketing Wilbur Gallery from top to bottom with Murakami’s signature flower motif.

As this exciting exhibition approaches, please keep an eye (or three) out for emails with information on opening week events and exclusive opportunities for museum members. n