Takashi Murakami featured in Contemporary Asian Arts exhibit in Toronto

By Sonya Davidson

Fans of contemporary asian arts take note! Highly sought after works by some of the most well-known asian artists have taken over Waddington's Auctioneers in the first-ever selling exhibition. Artists include Takashi Murakami, Tomio Miki, Nobuo Sekine, Koje Enokura, Ayako Rokkaku, Tatsuya Matsushita, Masashi Nishizono, Wu Junyoung, William Ho, Zhang Yuanfung, Ju Ting, Chen Minguhui, and Liu Lin. 

The exhibition features 43 works in total and what's unique about this particular show is the pieces are available for straight forward purchase by the general public. 

"Works by these artists have been exhibited in major public exhibitions and collections around the world - it was time to bring them to our gallery," says Stephen Ranger, head of Waddington's Contemporary Art department. "Artists like Murakami are massive stars in the pop-culture world; who else has been dubbed the next Andy Warhol or curated by Pharrell Williams lately?" 

As Takashi Murakami is an all-time favourite of mine, so I had to see this for myself and it was a real treat! There are 21 works (numbered lithographs from 2011-2013) in the exhibition with attainable pricing. I'm seriously eyeing a couple of pieces. 

I recently met with Janfer Chung, head of the Contemporary Asian Arts department and specialist who has worked with top art galleries in Hong Kong and China and had a personal tour of the exhibit pieces.

"How can you not love Murakami! The timing couldn't be better! With the opening of Murakami's film Jellyfish Eyes across North America. Simple yet compelling, brightly coloured by also dark in theme at times, his images have caught everyone's attention," said Chung. 

Chung is also keeping a close eye on the work of Wu Junyong who she describes as both "intelligent and expressive and gives a voice to modern Asia."  

"Wu's work often references historical Chinese literature, folk art and culture, reinterpreting traditional symbols and motifs as a mean of satire and political commentary.

His work is gathering international attention and have been shown worldwide, including the Groninger Museum Netherlands, The Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China, and The National Museum of Contemporary Art in Korea," said Chung.

The Contemporary Asian Arts Selling Exhibition is held at Waddington's Auctioneers & Appraisers located at 275 King Street East, 2nd Floor (Toronto).

Free Admission until May 11th. For more information visit www.waddingtons.ca