Murakami

Teenagers and young adults in this country are embracing Japanese art and pop culture like never before. An exhibition at the Japan Society in New York has filled the museum with colorful toys, strange dolls and paintings of schoolgirls. It’s all very cute, but it doesn’t take long to sense some dark undercurrents below all the wackiness. The exhibit is curated by Takashi Murakami, the successful artist-designer and Andy Warhol-like impresario of hip Japanese culture. Sarah Lilley went to figure out what Murakami and his show are all about.