Documenting Takashi Murakami’s expansive exhibition of the same title at Gagosian, New York, An Arrow through History brings together three new bodies of work by the renowned Japanese artist that bridge the digital and physical realms: paintings and sculptures of digital avatars based on the Clone X NFTs developed in collaboration with RTFKT Studios; paintings of pixelated flowers related to the Murakami.Flowers NFT project, which combining Murakami’s influential Superflat aesthetic with a style evoking nostalgia for the 1980s video game graphics; and shaped canvases featuring fish motifs inspired by the imagery on ancient Chinese ceramics. These new artworks are represented in full-color plate images, installation photography, and behind-the-scenes studio shots. Readers can also activate four custom Snapchat lenses accessed via QR codes in the book to view augmented-reality animations that bring Murakami’s iconic imagery to life. An essay by author and researcher Amy Whitaker traces a thread “from the white cube to the black square,” contextualizing Murakami’s project within art history and the field of Internet art. A conversation between conceptual footwear designer Daniel Bailey; Elizabeth Semmelhack, director and senior curator of Toronto’s Bata Shoe Museum; and Gagosian director of strategic initiatives Ashley Overbeek examines the urge to collect through the lenses of sneaker culture and NFTs. Takashi Murakami and RTFKT studios discuss their ongoing collaboration, the necessity of “cognitive revolution,” and the future of art in a conversation moderated by Gagosian Quarterly’s Wyatt Allgeier.
