SCAI THE BATHHOUSE, Tokyo
Private Collection, New York
Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York
Acquired by the🔥 present owner from 🤪the above in 2006

Osaka, Aoi Gallery, Kazuko and Takashi, January 2003

This work is in very good condition overall. There are scattered dust accretions across the surface. Otherwise, there are no apparent condition problems with this work. Under ultraviolet light inspection there is no evidence of restoration. Unframed.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
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In the mid-1990's, Japanese artist Takashi Murakami moved away from the more confrontational and sex-charged atmosphere of his early works and started to embrace a cartoon style as the medium for his contemporary socio-cultural expression. He declared that "Japanese don't like serious art. But if I can transform cute characters into serious art they will love my [work]" (Arthur Lubow, 'The Murakami Method', The New York Times, Ap💛ril 3, 2005).       

Thus representing the artist's new-found immersion, the present work, Marimo is a distilled incarnaওtion of it, simultaneously standing as something quirky and undeniably appealing, as well as being a brilliantly pithy comment on the𒁃  effect of branded dream-worlds in contemporary culture. Murakami's personalized faces stare out at the viewer in a barrage of color and form, but instead of using the Western technique of having one focal point, Murakami uses the traditional Eastern method of a multiplicity of points of entrance. 

The title of the present work, Marimo refers to a rare photosynthetic plant named by the Japanese botanist Tatsuhiko Kawakami. A spherical moss with a surface that is both smooth and velvety, Mari comes from the Japanese word for ball and mo refers to algae. While small groups of Marimo can be found in some European waters, the densest population is located resting and rotating at the bottom of Lake Akan in Hokkaido, Japan. Listed as an endangered species in 1940, this round ball of moss is considered a Japanese national treasure, and the plant is often known as the "Rolling Green Jewel" under the water. This painting, from 2002, is a stunning example of how Japan's foremost contemporary artist merges his traditional Japanese training and background with contemporary Japanese culture, specifically in this instance environmental pride. The effect is a visual and cerebral amalgam of High (fine art) and Low (popular) art. Murakami's cartoon-like animation set among the algae colored green background gives an indiscernible rendition of one of Japan's most prized species while also being light- hearted and amusing. Murakami once stated, "I just like things that are not universal....My idea is to see the reality of our life, not in the universal, but in the details," (New York, Center for Curatorial Studies Museam, Bard College Takashi Murakami: the Meaning of the Nonsense of the Meaning, New York, 1999, p. 36).