Takashi Murakami on the meaning of his exhibition @ Versaille

For a Japanese like me, the Château de Versailles is one of the greatest symbols of Western history. It is the emblem of an ambition for elegance, sophistication and art that most of us can only dream of. Of course, we are aware that the spark that set fire to the powder of the Revolution came directly from the centre of the building.

But, in many respects, everything is transmitted to us as a fantastic tale coming from a very distant kingdom. Just as French people can find it hard to recreate in their minds an accurate image of the Samurai period, the history of this palace has become diminished for us in reality.

So it is probable that the Versailles of my imagination corresponds to an exaggeration and a transformation in my mind so that it has become a kind of completely separate and unreal world. That is what I have tried to depict in this exhibition.

I am the Cheshire cat that welcomes Alice in Wonderland with its diabolic smile, and chatters away as she wanders around the Château.

With a broad smile I invite you all to discover the wonderland of Versailles.

- Takashi Murakami

Notice how he ties the influence that history has had on his personal artistic mission into his interpretation of the Versaille opportunity:

As a curator, Murakami challenges our notions of history and culture.  With his three-part Superflat exhibition which toured in major museums in America and Europe, he attempted to introduce Japanese artists, animators, cartoonists, etc. to an international audience, under the premise that such categories of creativity are not as rigid in the Japanese system, and might all be thought of as “art.” His final installation Little Boy suggested a new interpretation of history through a political exposition of the A-bomb and post-war Japanese popular culture.

JNOMICS