CHICAGO, IL.- The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago announced a new partnership with Facebook and international art icon Takashi Murakami that includes the production of three unique, first-of-their-kind frames and effects for the Messenger Camera. This initiative celebrates the MCA's new exhibition, Takashi Murakami: The Octopus Eats Its Own Leg (on view through September 24, 2017) and is inspired by works from the show including the signature character of Mr. DOB, the smiling daisies, and a pink octopus character created for the exhibition. The Messenger frames provide creative expression capabilities to the over 1.2 billion people around the world who use Messenger each month, bringing Murakami's art directly to his longtime fans and new followers.
MCA Pritzker Director Madeleine Grynsztejn says about the partnership, "There is a dynamic collaborative energyrunning through everything we do at the MCA, and we are extending our reach by forming new creative partnerships to connect with today's audiences. This summer with the Takashi Murakami exhibition, we have two new cultural partnerships with companies who are masters in the power of networks and attracting younger audiences -- Facebook and Complex. We are very excited to be working in real time with these cutting-edge companies to converge art, engagement, and contemporary culture for new audiences."
Messenger announced this first-ever integration to coincide with the festival of creativity, the Cannes Lions Festival in France, in recognition of the extraordinary creativity that's possible in people's beloved messaging app. The Murakami camera art was envisioned and brought to life by Facebook Creative Shop, and is now available worldwide in the Featured section of the Messenger Camera. In addition to the Messenger camera art, Murakami's images will be showcased in Facebook 360 Video, as well as video ads on Facebook and Instagram that people can share with others across devices.
David Marcus, Head of Messenger, says, "Increasingly, Messenger is becoming a more and more visual medium for people to express themselves. We are excited to work with the MCA and Takashi Murakami to bring to our community these special, exclusive, first-of-their kind tools to connect with the people they love. The work of the team at the Facebook Creative Shop has been both thoughtful and playful, and we can't wait to see how people interact with their own small piece of Murakami art!"
Lauren Smallwood, MCA Director of Communications, addresses the collaboration, "It's natural for the MCA and Facebook to work together because we share a commitment to providing today's audiences with experiences that are cutting edge, enticing, and participatory. We are excited to be able to channel the unparalleled spectacle-like experience that visitors find when they enter the Murakami exhibition, leaving them primed to come in and experience the real thing at the MCA and share our vision around the world."
The inspiration for these new interactive tools is the major retrospective Takashi Murakami: The Octopus Eats Its Own Leg at the MCA, which showcases more than three decades of Murakami's paintings from his earliest mature works-many of which are being shown in North America for the first time-to his most recent, never-before-seen paintings. Across over 50 works, this seminal exhibition of extraordinary, monumental paintings reveals the consistent, universal themes that have guided his work, reflecting his exquisite level of craft and insightful engagement with history. Murakami is widely known for both his fine art and commercial output-including collaborations with pop icons such as Kanye West and fashion house Louis Vuitton-and his ability to straddle high and low, ancient and modern, eastern and western, commercial and fine art. The exhibition is curated by MCA Chief Curator Michael Darling and is on view at the MCA Chicago from June 6 to September 24, 2017.
