Chaos @ Mr. Metamorphosis: Give Me Your Wings

Chaos, color, and craziness sum up Mr.'s show, Metamorphosis; Give Me Your Wings, which opened Thursday night at Lehmann Maupin.

A protegee of Takashi Murakami, Mr. is a renowned Japanese pop artist, often taking recognizable manga characters and turning them totally inappropriate. This show, however, took on a more serious theme, touching on the emotional state of the Japansese people after the Tsunami of 2011. The work is messy, the main installation looking like a scene straight out of hoarders. Discarded household items are piled high and mixed in with video screens, drawings, and just plain trash. There's a ton to see, and it's really difficult to take it all in at once, but the message is clear - frustration and chaos. His mastery of the Japanese pop art style is apparent in many of the works surrounding the central heap, including a huge colorful mural (pictured above) and many paintings interspersed throughout the show. The depressing trash heap juxtaposed to the super kawaii, lively manga imagery surrounding it do exactly what Mr. wanted - confuse and confound the viewer. The show is on view until October 20th.

Metamorphosis; Give Me Your Wings

by Mr. Lehmann Maupin, 540 W. 26th St. NYC til' October 20th

Paul & Mr.