A followup to the earlier post about Takashi Murakami. We had read several references to a book of the above name which was released in conjunction with a 2000 exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo. But it seemed to be unavailable at Amazon and several used booksellers.
A web search revealed a Japanese shop specializing in anime and some modern Japanese artists including Murakami. They offered the book for US$35 with only $15 shipping to the US. We ordered the book online and it arrived to the US in only 5 days!
It’s a fascinating look into Murakami’s atelier and work process. Being a few years old, it doesn’t mention some of the very large scale pieces that were exhibited at the MOCA, and the Louis Vuitton collaboration had not yet occurred.) What comes through is Murakami’s persistence. After being ignored by the otaku community, as well as the serious art community, he kept working on his vision and was ultimately rewarded with recognition and success.
http://www.wakaba.net/murakamibook.htm
Summon Monsters?… is not focused on excellent reproductions of his pieces; the MOCA catalog is a better source for that and it is available for $40.95 from Amazon (which breaks my heart a little as we paid full price ($65.00) at MOCA for it.) However, for insight into his workshop, collaborators and his own theories of art, beauty and the business of creating designs, it’s fascinating. But you better have either excellent eyesight or a powerful magnifying glass to read it (see the second image and note the scale)…
linda fetch 
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