Of all the artists profiled in the readings, Takashi Murakami stood out in particular. While Warhol, Koons, and Hirst seem (or seemed in the case of Warhol) to gleefully exploit themselves through marketing and branding, Murakami seems less enthusiastic but resigned to this aspect of contemporary art.
Murakami has three Japanese studios in addition to one in New York in which he employs seventy to ninety people. His studios are consolidated under the label of Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd., which directly indicates their identity as a company/factory. Not only does the company produce Murakami’s work, but it also does marketing and produces merchandise, organizes art festivals, and manages and represents seven other Japanese artists (six of the seven are women). While Murakami’s art is mostly produced by his assistants, he is very present and demanding in their creation. Murakami’s celebrity clients such as Louis Vuitton and Kanye West further establish his fame and provide him with visibility and marketing opportunities. Notably, Murakami does not have a signed contract with his dealers and has been careful to ensure his rights to his work and all final approvals regarding it through extensive legal documents.
What I found interesting about Murakami is that while he acknowledges that marketing and branding are essential to his success and uses them generously (he has a merchandise room at his exhibitions and canvases of the candy colored Louis Vuitton label that he designed), there is a sense that perhaps this is not something he likes or wants to do but does because he recognizes the advantages. While Warhol, Koons, and Hirst are/were equally aware of what they are/were doing, they seem(ed) much more certain and exuberant about employing self-promotion and branding tactics. Murakami and his representation seem to feel that branding is something that must be used to attract the interest of patrons, especially from younger generations; he also uses this as an explanation for the “video game” style of his work.
Also significant about Murakami is his upfront acknowledgement that his works are collaborations by listing the names of the other artists or assistants involved in the production of a work on the back of the work. While Murakami’s employees describe the work on his productions as intense and having no room for creativity, Murakami promotes and encourages the individual careers of his assistants and the artists he represents which is quite unusual. He is very serious about his work and although he is certainly wealthy he lives simply.
The concept of the “art factory” where an artist supervises the creation of their ideas while others produce them is fascinating (and I personally think disappointing). Are you really an artist if you have the idea for a work but someone else produces it? How can someone who has no skills in drawing, painting, sculpting etc. be considered an artist? It seems to me that most of these artists are not particularly talented artists but rather genius salesmen and marketers. Do most patrons realize that the works are not actually produced by the artists who sign them, do they even care? In essence, it seems that patrons are just paying for a signature (i.e.: the Hirst signed Stalin painting), which I find amazing.
Examples of works by Murakami (and his assistants), "Flowers of Joy" and "Hiropon": 
