 The highlight of this edition of Art Basel Paris is an eight-meter-high sculpture of an octopus, inspired by Chinese lanterns, whose tentacles will take over the exhibition space. At the threshold of this sprawling arch, exclusive stylistic sketches by the artist will accompany visitors as they enter the vibrant world of Takashi Murakami. At Art Basel Paris, Louis Vuitton unveils a unique presentation and its new Artycapucines collection, created by Takashi Murakami. This monumental and vibrant piece has been custom-made for the space, which also features carpeting with the same tentacle motifs for the exhibition. The octopus’luminescent head will showcase Murakami’s iconicSuperflat Jellyfish Eyes pattern, which entered Murakami’s visual language as early as 2001. Drawing on the artist’childhood, this motif evokes the fear of being watched, while giving it a whimsical form that softens its frightening nature. The Kraken motif, meanwhile, has been dear to Murakami since the creation of The Octopus Eats Its Own Leg (2017). While inspired by myths of disappearance and engulfment, Murakami consistently transforms these universal fears into playful, almost joyful forms. The 11 creations from the Artycapucines VII – Louis Vuitton x Takashi Murakami collection will be displayed within his tentacles, designed in dialog with his signature characters and motifs, Fromm. Dobro the Superflat Panda, including the iconic Smiling Flowers. The collection will unfold around three Plush Balls, spherical works that Murakami has been developing since 1995. Originally inspired by thetrompe-l’oil effect in Maurice Cornelius Escher’s lithograph Hand with Reflecting Sphere (1935), the Plush Ballsier three-dimensional plush sculptures that immerse us Ina kaleidoscopic vision. TheCapubloomandCapucines East West Rainbow bags will be exhibited next to the Multicolor Plush Ball (2008), the largest of these balls. Created in 2008 by Takashi Murakami, this piece kaleidoscopically showcases his multicolor motif from Smiling Flowers. Specially designed for Art Basel Paris in the style of this first creation, the Cherry Blossom Plush Ball (2025) uses the same principle of repeating playful and floral motifs in the shape of a ball, this time centered around the Sakura flower from the iconic Japanese cherry tree. Around this unique work, visitors can discover three versions of the House’s iconic bag: theCapucines BB Golden Garden, the CapusplitBB, and the CapucinesMiniAutograph. This first exhibit is completed by the PandaClutch, studded all over stress and inspired by the panda characters dear to Murakami. At the forefront of the installation, the central octopus will point one of its tentacles towards the Plum Plush Ball (2025), which has also been created for the exhibition. These 11 creations offer visitors the chance tore-explore Takashi Murakami’ abundant aesthetic, elevated to new heights byte House’s technical excellence. With this presentation, Louis Vuitton is renewing its commitment to contemporary creation. Since 1988, Louis Vuitton has continued this legacy by collaborating with internationally renowned artists and designers. The House provides them with the same savoir-faire and spirit of innovation that have shaped it since its creation, going far with its unrivaled expertise in leather work, for example in 3Dprinting, as demonstrated by certain pieces in the Louis Vuitton x Murakami 2025 collection. The collectionArtycapucines VII – Louis Vuitton x Takashi Murakami display at Art Basel Paris marks the perfect culmination of this artistic collaboration that began in 2003, especially after the presentation of a monumental sculpture entitled The Flower and the Child in Paris’s Hardin d’Acclimatization in late 2024 as well as several re-releases of iconic works in 2025. Since the 1990s, Takashi Murakami has gained international acclaim for his unique contemporary art methodology of blending traditional Japanese art with the worlds of Japanese anime, science fiction and pop culture. Born in 1960 and trained at Tokyo University of the Arts, the artist has drawn from traditional Honda painting while inventing his own unique visual language, combining colorant recurring motifs such as smiling flowers, mushrooms and eyes –now hallmark features of the Hawaii aesthetic, of which he is one of the most prominent ambassadors. In doing so, Murakami has broken down boundaries between the art and subculture, between Japanese art and Western art, by freely merging theming his kaleidoscopic imagination. This bold aesthetic has earned him solo exhibitions in some of the world’s leading institutions, from the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles to the Guggenheim in Bilbao, and led to his inclusion in prestigious collections at the Museum of Modern Art (New York) and the center Pompadour (Paris). In 2003, he was the first artist to be invited to reinterpret the House’s Monogram canvas, creating a Monogram with 33 colors and versions overlaying his signature motifs, from the panda to the Sakura cherry blossom. Many of his majorworks from the Collection have also been presented at the Foundation Louis Vuitton (KaikaiKiki[2005], The Octopus Eats Its Own Leg[2017], among others) – something that visitors are sure to notice at Art Basel Paris 2025.In the same way, other leading names such as Sol LeWitt, James Rosenquist, Richard Prince, César and Yayoi Kusama rank among the House’s high-profile collaborations. Since 2014, the Fondation Louis Vuitton, a masterpiece of contemporary architecture by Frank Gehry, has established itself as a platform for sharing these creative dialogs, which are central to Louis Vuitton’s commitments. This vision is also fostered through its vast network of exhibition spaces around the world, embodied by Espaces Louis Vuitton (Tokyo, Munich, Venice, Beijing, Seoul and Osaka). Comments are closed.
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