TAKASHI MURAKAMI
NIRVANA, 2008
Offset Print with silver
131,4x65,7cm
Nirvana is an offset print depicting two characters from Murakami’s universe, Kaikai and Kiki.
Kaikaikiki can mean two different things, one is eeriness, something strange and disturbing, the
other meaning is bravery, power, and sensibility. The composition of Kaikai and Kiki in this
painting reflects the two guardian dogs at Japanese temples, one with open mouth as if saying Ah
, and the other with closed mouth as if saying Un. Ah and Un is the same as Alpha and Omega,
the start and the end of creation. Kiki as Alpha and Kaikai as Omega merge together, or seems
like transforming from one becoming another, symbolizing a cycle, or the end of a cycle, just like
the title Nirvana.
