Takashi Murakami: Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow

Takashi Murakami’s new exhibition at the Cleveland Museum of Art is a mood-boosting, mind-altering experience that is something important, nay, necessary, for the present moment. Walking into the rooms, Murakami's art commands your attention while simultaneously making you smile and repeat over and over, “This is so cool.” Or perhaps that was just me? But I doubt it - judging from the looks on my fellow attendees faces at the Media & Influencer Preview held on May 15th at the museum.

Murakami’s art marries both high and low art, with precision and detail, all while infusing it with a sense of child-like wonder with a pop culture edge. “The works on view track a consistent but evolving thread in Murakami’s work of addressing the impact of trauma and disaster on individuals, as manifested not only through grief but also through an outpouring of creativity, religious fervor, and contemporary obsessions as diverse as gaming, the metaverse, trading cards, street fashion trends, anime, and manga.” (Cleveland Museum of Art)

The exhibition is inspired by shared historic trauma - specifically the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II, the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, which led to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident in Japan, and the COVID-19 pandemic. I would argue that the historic trauma even ventures into the present moment and current events that are affecting our country, the wider world, and our collective psyche.

Murakami’s art calls for us to bear witness the world around us and “explore how—after shared historical events and trauma—art can address crisis, healing, outrage, and escapist fantasy.”

The exhibit opens to the public on Sunday, May 25, and runs through Sunday, September 7, 2025. For more info, click here.