Japanese artist moves in metaverse in latest exhibition in NY

New York – Takashi Murakami is known for blending pop art and Asian fine arts, but for his latest exhibition in New York he is moving into the metaverse.

At the show An Arrow Through History that opened this week at Manhattan’s Gagosian Gallery, Murakami builds bridges from traditional fine arts to Japanese pop art to buzzy NFTs – the digital tokens that represent original artwork.

In one piece, Murakami painted thick canvases and wooden structures with the blue and white patterns of fish, inspired by Chinese porcelain vases. Using Snapchat and an augmented reality filter, visitors can be immersed in the room via phones, standing among digital images of fish that swim among physical works of art.