Tomorrow, Takashi Murakami (the world’s 6th richest living artist) opens his latest blockbuster exhibit at the Al Riwaq Exhibition Hall in Doha, Qatar. Marking his first show in the Middle East, Murakami is not only showcasing a vast collection of previous releases, but is also unveiling a host of new work.

According to the press release, “for this presentation, Murakami has conceived of the exhibition itself as a work of art, creating new modes of display that include sculptural pedestals with digital animation, a circus tent that doubles as an indoor cinema, and a new 100-meter-long painting that wraps around the exhibition space. Most spectacularly, the artist will depict himself as a larger than life inflatable creature, greeting visitors at the entrance of the exhibition, turning the show into a giant self-portrait, in which Murakami appears as a character in his own typically supernatural world.”

The Murakami Ego exhibition opens tomorrow and runs until June 24, 2012.

More images follow after the click.

The Qatar Museums Authority goes behind the scenes with Takashi Murakami as he and his Kaikai Kiki team prepare to launch his first exhibition in the Middle East. The “EGO” Exhibition by Takashi Murakami opens February 9, 2012 at the Al-Riwaq Exhibition Centre, Qatar.

Known for his colorful art and characters, Japanese artist Takashi Murakami is on to his next project. He is currently producing a children’s monster movie, entitled Jellyfish Eyes.

“Using a cast of unknown actors and putting the film’s sizable budget almost entirely into special effects, the artist has managed to create big-screen incarnations of his ravenous, curious creatures that maintain astonishing fidelity to their canvas versions. But like “Godzilla,” which was born from the nuclear terror of Hiroshima and Nagasaki’s aftermath, Murakami’s film arises from a disaster: the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami that rent his country asunder, killing thousands and displacing countless more (see Part 1 of our video interview with the artist, where he talks about his charity auction benefiting the earthquake victims).

Titled “Jellyfish Eyes,” the movie follows a young boy who after an earthquake has to move with his family to an “experimental city” where each child is paired with a small monster. The “angry feeling” of the children then gives these creatures great power, allowing them to grow from cuddly little companions to giant, omnivorous behemoths that tower over buildings and, in one especially gorgeous scene, tromp majestically through a misty forest. Havoc ensues.”

Check out the video interview by ArtInfo about the upcoming film here below.

Murakami hopes to release the film later this year.

In time for the upcoming JR exhibition at Galerie Perrotin in Paris and Murakami’s recent ‘Homage to Yves Klein’ exhibition at the same gallery, Clark Magazine is launching their issue 51 for November/December 2011. For the cover, JR and Takashi Murakami meet on the cover with the Clark logo styled by the Japanese artist in his iconic flower graphics.

Also featured in the new issue are V1 Gallery, Jay One, Aaron Young and more on the fashion pages, musical columns, books, calendar and shopping pages. The issue is now available here.

A detailed look at the new Clark Magazine issue follows after the jump.

We  have reported several times about the Takashi Murakami organized charity auction “New Day: Artists for Japan”, in association with Christie’s. The event finally took place Wednesday morning in New York City and was jam packed with both collectors and fans of the Japanese artist. Participating artists included Zeng Fanzhi, Mark Grotjahn, Damien Hirst, Thomas Houseago, KAWS, Jeff Koons, Friedrich Kunath, Mr., Yoshimoto Nara, Gabriel Orozco, Anselm Reyle, Cindy Sherman, Aya Takano and Luc Tuymans.

Our favorite, Kaws, got a record high for his “Kawsbob Enters the Strange Forest” (2011) painting, at a whooping 155′000 USD. Having followed him now for such a long time, it is great seeing him come this far. A price war between the Paris dealer of the artist, Emmanuel Perrotin, and one of his clients, forced the price up to 155′000 USD.

The highest piece of work sold during the auction, was the Jeff Koons “Balloon Monkey Wall Relief” for exactly 1′000′000 USD. All in all the auction raised almost 9 Million USD for the Japanese earthquake victims, which is simply incredible. (Via AI)

Takashi Murakami and Christie’s will be partnering up on a special auction called A New Day: Artists for Japan on November 9th. The auction is being held to raise money for those by the disastrous earthquake and tsunami that struck the island earlier this year. Participating artists include Zeng Fanzhi, Mark Grotjahn, Damien Hirst, Thomas Houseago, KAWS, Jeff Koons, Friedrich Kunath, Mr., Yoshimoto Nara, Gabriel Orozco, Anselm Reyle, Cindy Sherman, Aya Takano and Luc Tuymans and prior to the auction, The Gagosian Gallery will be presenting the pieces in a special 2-day exhibit.

Take a further look after the jump.

Auction house Christie’s will be teaming up with Japanese artist Takashi Murakami and his company Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. to support the victims of the March 11, 2011 Tohoku-Pacific earthquake in Japan. For the occasion a dedicated section of their November 9th, 2011, auction in New York was given to Murakami. Murakami contributed works himself to be auction off and chose other works from some of contemporary art’s biggest names to support the event. Works by Zeng Fanzhi, Mark Grotjahn, Damien Hirst, Thomas Houseago, KAWS, Jeff Koons, Friedrich Kunath, Mr., Takashi Murakami, Yoshitomo Nara, Gabriel Orozco, Anselm Reyle, Cindy Sherman, Aya Takano, and Luc Tuymans will be part of the sale.

Gagosian Gallery will be holding a preview of the works from the auction, from Wednesday, October 26th to Friday, October 28th at their Madison Avenue Gallery in New York.

A preview of the works follows after the jump.

After a nice preview the other day, we passed by the latest Takashi Murakami exhibition today at Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin in Paris – Homage To Yves Klein. Inspired by Klein, his artistic style and mostly his signature color, Japanese artist Takashi Murakami has produced a new body of work. Mixed in with the new paintings, Perrotin is also showing numerous images from Murakami’s exhibition at Chateau Versailles from 2010.

Photography: Mathieu Vilasco/Highsnobiety.com

TAKASHI MURAKAMI
« Homage to Yves Klein »
20/10/2011 – 07/01/2012
Galerie Perrotin
10, Impasse Saint Claude
Paris

Check out the full exhibition recap after the jump.

From October 20th 2011 until January 1st 2012, Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin in Paris will be hosting the latest Takashi Murakami exhibition, entitled ‘Homage To Yves Klein’. The inspiration of the new series of paintings by the Japanese artist is pretty obvious here, with Yves Klein’s blue tone appearing in many of the new pieces.

TAKASHI MURAKAMI
« Homage to Yves Klein »
20/10/2011 – 07/01/2012
Galerie Perrotin
10, Impasse Saint Claude
Paris

Take a look at further paintings that will be on view at the exhibition after the jump.

Opening June 28th, we get an early look at a couple of sculptures that Japanese artist Takashi Murakami has produced for his upcoming exhibition at Gagosian Gallery London. The show will have recent paintings and sculptures by the artist.

Takashi Murakami
Gagosian Gallery, London
June 28 – August 5, 2011

Check out the new 3 Meter Girl sculpture after the jump.