WhenI’mhungry,
mybrainisvery
creative.WhenI
eateverything,
I just get sleepy.TheJapaneseartistonfinishingartduringa typhoon,
working with Marc Jacobs and decorated burgers.
Whatdidyouenjoyeatingwhenyouwere
growingupinTokyo?Mymum’scurry
rice.I hadnotimetogoouttorestaurants
because our family was really poor.Twodecadesagoyouhadanimportant
dinnerwithNewYorkgalleristHudson
ofFeatureInc.Whathappened?When
hesoldmystatue,heinvitedmeto
dinner.Wewenttoa smallItalian
restaurantdowntownandI hadalmost
nowaytocommunicateinEnglish.
Buthesaid,verykindly,“Thank you,
Takashi,we’remaking
money.Untilnow,I
couldnotinviteyou
todinnerbecause
wehadnobusiness.
Butthistime,it
meanswe’remaking
business,whichis why
I appreciateworking
withyou.”AndI was
superimpressedbecausehewas
reallyhonest.Andthisdinnerwas
supersmallandnotglamorous,but
veryhonestandheartwarming.It
wasjustforanhour,butit wasa
super memorable moment in my life.TheQueenslandArtGalleryfeaturedyour
painting,Andthen,andthenandthen
andthenandthen, atthe 1996 Asia-Pacific
Triennial– thefirsttimeyourworkshowed
inAustralia.Whatwasyourresponse?
Mygalleristsaid,“Takashi,yourpainting
sold.” I could not believe it. He said, “AnAustralianmuseumboughtit.”I said,
“Why?”Hesaid,“Oh,maybe because
it was very cheap.”Whatwasit likebeinginAustraliafor
thefirsttime?Thattriennialwasa great
experience.Everyonewasverykind.
Atthattime,nooneknewmyname
orbackground;I wasalmosta kid.
Therewasa koalaandcrocodiletour- it wasa strangetour,butI enjoyed
it. Australia gives me a warm feeling.
Howdidit feelto
havetheArtGallery
ofNewSouthWales
commissiona painting
ofyours(pictured)
foritsJapan
Supernatural
exhibitionand
permanentcollection?
It wasalmostlikemy
Queensland Art Gallery experience: Why?Youwerefinishingtheartworkaround
thetimeTyphoonHagibishitJapan.
Didthetyphoonaffectyourstudioin
Saitama,nearTokyo?Thiswasa bad
coincidence.Inmyneighbourhood,the
rivercameupandmystudiowaspartly
underwater.Mystudiopeoplecouldn’t
gobackhome.I waslucky,becausethey
workedfora longtimewhilewaiting
forthewatertogodown.Over 25
peopleworkedonthepaintingfora
long time and that’s how I finished it.Sothetyphoonhelpedyoutomeetyour
deadline!Youdocumentedthepainting’s
developmentonInstagram.Whatwas
it liketoshowpeoplehowthework
progressed?It wasforthegallerypeople,
toshowthatI’mdoingit!It wasnot
forthepublic.Thiswasmyhonest
way to show I was doing the work.You’veteamedupwithDrakeand
BillieEilishonvariousprojects.What
othercreativecollaborationshaveyou
enjoyeddoing?MarcJacobswasone
ofmyfirstcollaborationswitha fashion
brand.Notthefirsttime,asmyfirst
waswithIsseyMiyake.Theemail
conversationwasveryunique.In
thatmoment,I wassonervous.Also,
I hadnovocabularyforthefashion
world so that was interesting.EATINGWITH
Takashi
Murakami
26 GOURMET TRAVELLER