Celebrated anime’ artist Takashi Murakami designs Summer 06 bulletin for NYU School of Continuing and Professional Studies
Celebrated anime’ artist Takashi Murakami designs Summer 06 bulletin for NYU School of Continuing and Professional Studies
A vivid, cartoon-like scene of kids playing around the Washington Square arch, rendered in “manga art” style by Japanese artist Takashi Murakami, is the cover of The NYU School of Continuing and Professional Studies Summer 2006 Bulletin.
“Downtown Manhattan in the summer always makes me want to dance. I love the crowded parks and festive energy! I hope that everyone can take a break from studying and get out to discover the city’s hidden treasures,” says Murakami of his Washington Square Arch with Kid Sprout, the design commissioned by the School.
Murakami joins the company of more than 40 noted artists who have designed the School’s bulletin cover issued each semester. Since 1969, NYU SCPS has featured cover art from graphic artists and designers such as Peter Maxx, Al Hirschfeld and John Jinks, making the publication an iconic brand image for the School.
Born in 1962, Murakami was profoundly influenced in his youth by Japanese anime. He was first to coin the phrase “Poku,” an art movement that focused on anime and technology, and fused American pop culture with Japanese otaku culture. In 2003, his famous 28-foot sculpture of “Mr. Pointy,” was installed at Rockefeller Center. A handbag design he produced for Louis Vuitton is a hot ticket item for fashionistas worldwide.
NYU has been showcasing unique, artistic creations on its bulletin covers for more than 35 years, starting with visual artist Otto Piene’s Light Sculpture. Over the years, a variety of media have been used, including some innovative three-dimensional pieces- Jonathan Milne’s paper sculpture of a red apple with the Washington Square Arch for its backdrop; Joel Nakamura’s painting on hand-tooled tin; Susan Leopold’s mixed media collage; and perhaps two of the most challenging, Steve Miotto’s mosaic, and Eric Harshbarger and Henry Lim’s Lego sculpture.
In every design, each artist has made his or her own interpretation of the University’s world-known symbol, the Washington Square Arch, and what it means to the School, the university, and the city.
“It’s been said that the NYU SCPS bulletin cover is The New Yorker’ of college catalogs,” says NYU SCPS Associate Dean Dorothy Durkin. “Each semester, the cover design draws in readers, leading them to our broad and varied array of course offerings.”
A gallery of past bulletin covers is at www.scps.nyu.edu/classiccovers.
MEDIA ONLY: A high-resolution jpeg of Murakami’s “Washington Square Arch with Kid Sprout” is available upon request. Images of other NYU SCPS bulletin covers are available. Please contact Ken Brown at ken.brown@nyu.edu or 212 998-9119.
About The NYU School of Continuing and Professional Studies
The School of Continuing and Professional Studies (www.scps.nyu.edu) is among the 14 colleges and schools that comprise New York University, one of the largest private universities in the United States. Founded in 1934, NYU SCPS each year educates some 4,200 undergraduate and graduate students and enrolls over 44,000 in its non-credit programs. A national leader in adult and professionally-oriented education, NYU SCPS programs include non-credit courses that span more than 125 fields, 14 industry-focused master’s degree programs, and nine bachelors and six associates degree programs specially designed for working adults. As well, NYU SCPS is home to NYU Online, the University’s first online bachelor’s programs.
About Takashi Murakami
Murakami, artist and president of Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. (http://www.kaikaikiki.co.jp), was born in Tokyo in 1962 and received his B.F.A., M.F.A., and Ph.D. from the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. He has had solo shows at the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Paris (2002); the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo (2001); the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (2001); as well as large-scale public installations at Rockefeller Center (2003) and Grand Central Station (2001), New York.
He will be the subject of a traveling midcareer survey organized by the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles in 2007.
In addition to his work as an artist, Murakami is a curator, entrepreneur, and a student of contemporary Japanese society. Over the last five years, his trilogy of curated exhibitions, “Superflat,” “Coloriage,” and “Little Boy: The Arts of Japan’s Exploding Subculture” has opened around the world, gathering critical and popular success, including the award “Best Thematic Museum Show in New York City” in 2005 given to “Little Boy” by the AICA/USA (the American chapter of the International Association of Art Critics).. Murakami lives and works in Saitama, Japan, and New York City.