Lot  227 Ravenel Autumn Auction 2021 Taipei

Ravenel Autumn Auction 2021 Taipei

A Day When Many Dreams Come True

Mr. (Japanese, 1969)

2016

Mixed media on canvas

280 x 265 cm

Estimate

TWD 28,000,000-40,000,000

HKD 7,821,000-11,173,000

USD 1,005,400-1,436,300

CNY 6,527,000-9,324,000

Sold Price

TWD 33,600,000

HKD 9,438,202

USD 1,212,121

CNY 7,724,138


Signature



PROVENANCE
Collection of Djapa, Hong Kong
Private collection, Asia

+ OVERVIEW

If ever Takashi Murakami is the first artist to successfully bring Japanese subculture into contemporary art, then Mr., as his chief disciple, undoubtedly is the best in carrying forward the "Otaku" culture. Murakami put forward his Superflat aesthetic theory, trying to challenge the existing aesthetic viewpoints of the public, while Mr. pushed the animation in popular art to the pinnacle and radiated. Mr. graduated from the College of Fine Arts in Tokyo and in the ten years collaborated with Murakami, he has then become the most famous artist in Kaikai Kiki. He has held solo exhibitions in Japan, Europe, the United States, and across Asia, as an unique artist, he has been highly discussed in the auction market in recent years.overseas was warmly welcomed by many young people in Japan. Among them, Murakami proposed his Superflat aesthetic theory in 1999, for the first time cultural strength, for instance comics and animation, formed an important route in connecting art, since then the otaku culture has even gained worldwide acceptance.

The works of Mr. has given a full play to the spirit of Japanese animation, especially the fancy imagination of lolicon and otaku. The “Moe” young girl often seen in animated video games, her iconic watery eyes and slender appearance has become an elusive imagination in the Japanese subculture. Mr. reckons the innocent girl is extremely attractive, and artistic creation is a kind of therapy and therefore reinterprets oneself, allowing him to recover from a divorced family. He once said, “People have misunderstood my work, thinking that it is just nostalgic, cute and looks like Japanese animation, but in fact, I keep painting in order to get rid of the devil that entangles my soul, they hide in my vein, impossible to escape from, can only confront with paintings. ” Mr., being an otaku, in order to communicate with the world, added the element of western graffiti street art, exceeding the past of just portraying a young girl, but successfully weaving an innocent paradise with multi- layers and strongly narrative, and hence conveys a distinctive visual language. The intertwining layers of cultural heritage are so strong in storytelling, they all come from the artist’s well-designed style with a clearFrom niche to mainstream, carrying the iconic style of internationalisation-from Pop Art to Superflat

In Japan, although comics and animation are called subcultures, they indeed overwhelmingly engage with the daily life of the general public. From 1988 to the beginning of 1990, Japanese society was in the frantic age of the economic bubble. Young artists who emerged around the 1990s, such as Takashi Murakami, Yoshitomo Nara and Kenji Yanobe etc., directly corresponded with the popular culture, and the form of reverse import from and rigorous attitude. The imagery of an indisputable young girl often seen in anime as Japanese subcultures indeed is the native motif that Mr. built-in and has since then become his iconic style.

“Let go of the current life for the time being, and return to the impression that one can do anything experienced during childhood, so that feeling a sense of happiness. I reckon otaku indeed is this kind of man being living in this way.”-- Mr.

The images exaggerated with otaku created by Mr. has become the focal point in the auction market, different from Takashi Murakami, who famously employed the anime character “Doraemon” as his creative theme, Mr. applies flourishing colors and creates Japanese animated manga character with style that is full of positive energy, his inner desire and fantasy are therefore vividly expressed on his creation. This autumn Ravenel proudly presents his large-scale painting "A Day When Many Dreams Come True" was once exhibited in the Djapa restaurant in Hong Kong. During then, it attracted many art enthusiasts and collectors to visit as pilgrimage. The work is centered on a girl with blonde hair, her big watery eyes and childish face reveal an incomparable innocence, she is also surrounded with other “Moe” young girls commonly seen in animated video games. The core ideology of Mr.'s creation is against representation and reality, the background element of this work presents Japanese mainstream subculture and street culture. Various signboards with slogans as open 24 hours demonstrate the application of the aesthetic style of pop art, evidently displaying his skill when coping with different themes and patterns. The girls with big watery eyes exerted their blooming youth power of “Moe” incisively and vividly, but at the same time is a projection of Mr.’s desire that is totally out of reach, is an imagination that possessed of the ideal of beauty. The work of Mr. shows fantasy moments filling with magic, brimming with boundless enthusiasm and positive energy, fully conveying the youthful, cute and pure of heart Japanese “Moe” spirit. In such an incomplete and troubled real world, opens up a world full of dreams with boundless fantasy and vitality.
Related Info

Modern & Contemporary Art

Ravenel Autumn Auction 2021 Taipei

Sunday, December 5, 2021, 2:00pm