Wink
Takashi Murakami
March 13-April 13, 2001
Grand Central Terminal
Photo © 2002 CharlieSamuels.com
With Wink Takashi Murakami introduced his brand of Japanese “neo-pop,” an art form which emerged in the early 1990s, to busy Grand Central Station. Three inflatable sculptures and two floor sculptures humorously disrupted the classical Beaux-Arts architecture of Vanderbilt Hall. The three inflatable sculptures were suspended from the ceiling and appeared as two giant floating “eyeballs” and a ball of daisies held up by a cartoon character named “Oval” sitting upside-down. The floor sculptures consisted of two large discs, decorated with cartoony eyes, echoing the motifs of the ceiling sculptures. The eyes depicted on each sculpture were distinctively different in size and expression; each one looking off in a different direction, echoing the hectic bustle of Grand Central’s commuters. Floating serenely overhead, the balloons cast a lighthearted, winking glance at the curious and amused passersby.