SYDNEY.- Prepare to step into an exploding world of colour, giant smiling flowers, playful anime characters and Japanese art history in Australia’s first retrospective of contemporary artist Takashi Murakami. Opening 5 December 2026 and presented exclusively in Sydney as part of the Sydney International Art Series 2026–27, Takashi Murakami: When the Mountain is High, the Moon Rises Higher transforms the Art Gallery of New South Wales into an expansive showcase of Murakami’s kaleidoscopic universe.
The title, When the Mountain is High, the Moon Rises Higher, is adapted from a 17th-century calligraphy by Kanō Tan’yū held in the Art Gallery’s collection and reflects Murakami’s enduring ambition to bring moments of the past to light through new experiences. The exhibition explores the interconnected realms of art, history, fantasy, commerce and collaboration that have defined Murakami’s career, charting his emergence as one of the most influential figures in contemporary art and popular culture.
Spanning more than 30 years and featuring over 150 works of art, most never seen in Australia before, the exhibition traces Murakami’s practice from his groundbreaking innovations of the 1990s to works completed this year, including the global premiere of a major site-specific installation created for the Art Gallery’s Nelson Packer Tank. Bringing together paintings, sculptures, video and installations, the exhibition reveals Murakami’s ability to bridge tradition and technology, humour and critique, the playful and the profound.
Unfolding across seven galleries in the Naala Badu building, the exhibition begins with an introduction to Murakami’s recurring and deceptively cute anime characters Kaikai and Kiki, who share their names with the artist’s creative enterprise, Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. and to his first cartoon-like creation, Mr. DOB.
At the heart of the exhibition in the Ainsworth Family Gallery are two immersive environments. The first is a darkened gallery anchored by a central column-like sculpture, Hexagonal Double-Helix Tower (Rokkaku Rasendō) 2024, which is surrounded by four large paintings of the guardian deities of Kyoto – the dragon, tiger, phoenix and tortoise. Deeper in the exhibition, visitors encounter a dazzling golden room complete with lavishly gilded walls and floor forming the backdrop for opulent paintings and a golden sculpture inspired by five centuries of Japanese art history.
Other highlights include Murakami’s large-scale paintings, spanning tens of metres and showcasing the breadth of his artistic vision and the intricacy of his technique. The exhibition features Japan Supernatural: Vertiginous After Staring at the Empty World Too Intensely, I Found Myself Trapped in the Realm of Lurking Ghosts and Monsters 2019–2020, the monumental work commissioned by the Art Gallery and now held in the permanent collection, alongside some of the artist’s best-known paintings from his own collection, including Dragon in Clouds – Indigo Blue 2010 and Cherry Blossoms Fujiyama JAPAN 2020. At 25 metres long and bursting with references to Japanese Edo-period (1603–1868) woodblock prints, Judgement Day 2023 is the largest painting on display and was created using thousands of silkscreens.
The exhibition embraces Murakami’s painted reinterpretations of celebrated woodblock prints designed by renowned Japanese artists Katsushika Hokusai and Utagawa Hiroshige as well as a take on Vincent van Gogh’s homage to Hiroshige’s print Plum garden at Kameido 1887. These works reflect Murakami’s interest in Japonisme – the global influence of Japanese art and design in the late 19th and early 20th century – and include his interpretation of one of the most recognised images in Japanese art, Hokusai’s Under the wave off Kanagawa, best known as The great wave 1831–1832.
The Art Gallery’s iconic Tank gallery will present one of Murakami’s most ambitious projects to date. Designed in collaboration with Japanese architectural firm VUILD, the monumental temple-inspired installation leads visitors on a journey through the artist’s life and creative practice. On the doorstep of the vast temple structure, a five-metre-tall smiling figure welcomes visitors into Murakami’s world, marking the entrance to this extraordinary experience.
The exhibition is further animated by a new digital commission for the Art Gallery’s 20-metre screen. Inspired by the painting Cherry Blossoms Fujiyama JAPAN 2020, the work transforms through changing seasons and times of day, with the moon rising high over the mountain at night.
The Art Gallery has a longstanding connection with Takashi Murakami who first encountered the Tank in 2019 during a visit to Sydney for the opening of Japan Supernatural. It was then that he began thinking of the concept for this exhibition, establishing a creative partnership that has culminated in his first exhibition in Australia.
Developed by the Art Gallery of New South Wales in collaboration with Takashi Murakami, the exhibition is curated by the Art Gallery’s Senior Curator of Asian Art, Melanie Eastburn.
‘Murakami has developed a style that is instantly recognisable and immensely engaging. From his earliest experiments with Superflat theory, to his admiration for Marcel Duchamp and engagement with Japan’s history through art and architecture, Murakami’s work continues to develop and change. While endlessly innovating, he also builds on earlier concepts and characters that reappear in surprising ways, creating a rich and interconnected experience. This exhibition reveals the remarkable breadth of his imagination, which has made him one of the most influential artists of our time,’ said Eastburn.
Murakami said he is excited to present his first solo exhibition in Australia, with the Art Gallery’s Tank enabling one of the most ambitious projects of his career to be realised.
Mr Murakami said: ‘It has already been 26 years since I introduced the concept of Superflat in 2000 and set it in motion as the driving force behind my artistic practice. The style of painting that originated with the artists associated with Superflat, depicting imagery inspired by manga, anime, and warm, approachable illustrations on canvas, has grown into a major genre across Asia since around 2015.
'During the pandemic, works in this vein spread throughout the world, something that may still be fresh in people’s memory. In other words, an overly simplified and broadened interpretation of Superflat has become widespread; the idea that merely painting manga- or anime-style characters automatically makes something a work of art. Whether this is ultimately a good or bad development remains to be seen.
'In any case, because the ideas I proposed all those years ago have now been accepted within the Asian art world, I now have the freedom to pursue entirely new challenges. Recently, I have been exploring the relationship between Superflat and Japonisme, the movement that emerged in nineteenth-century France. In particular, I have been looking more deeply into the question of whether the true origins of modern art, leading up to Duchamp, might, in fact, lie in ukiyo-e.
'I am also enjoying the rediscovery that the Japanese interpretation of imagery and narrative construction, rather than solely originating in the chaos that followed Japan’s defeat in World War II, have always been shaped by the country’s repeated natural disasters and the resulting upheavals in its people’s spirit and psyche. I have been incorporating this historical understanding into the concepts behind my work.'
Takashi Murakami: When the Mountain is High, the Moon Rises Higher is presented at the Art Gallery as part of the 2026–27 Sydney International Art Series, a NSW Government initiative through its tourism and events agency Destination NSW.
NSW Minister for Jobs and Tourism Steve Kamper said: ‘Takashi Murakami is one of the world’s most celebrated artists and has exhibited extensively across the globe, from Tokyo, Los Angeles and New York to Paris, Frankfurt and Qatar. This summer he turns his attention to Sydney, taking over the Art Gallery of New South Wales with a blockbuster exhibition for the Sydney International Art Series that will captivate locals and visitors alike. The NSW Government is proud to support exhibitions like this that showcase Sydney as a global stage for arts and culture, a city of storytelling for international artists, and Australia’s leading destination for world-class cultural experiences.’
The exhibition will be accompanied by an exciting range of merchandise developed in collaboration with Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. and a vividly illustrated publication offering readers a journey through Murakami’s vibrant universe and the cultural, historical, and personal threads that shape his art. The publication features insightful essays by exhibition curator Melanie Eastburn and Ed Schad (curator and publications manager at The Broad, Los Angeles), an extensive interview with Murakami, and entries on key works by Eastburn and assistant curators Johanna Bear and Sophie Rose.
The Art Gallery is also delighted to welcome leading global specialist watch retailer The Hour Glass as presenting partner of the exhibition. Sharing with Murakami a deep fascination with time, creativity and the enduring cultural significance of objects, The Hour Glass celebrates the moments of wonder that shape our lives and connect generations.
The Sydney International Art Series brings the extraordinary works of internationally acclaimed artists exclusively to Sydney, in collaboration with the Art Gallery of New South Wales and Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. As part of the Sydney International Art Series 2026–27 the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia will present Philippe Parreno: 5 Moons from 21 November 2026 to 26 April 2027.
