Murakami And The BBG - A NYC Day To Remember
There is no better way to celebrate the freedom that comes with summer - warm temps, long days and microscopic clothing - than to get out and experience all the beauty blooming around us.
It’s not only the obvious flowers on every corner - even in a concrete jungle like NYC! - but also the newly exposed tattoos on the handsome men and the bare midriffs on the pretty girls, as well as the art shows that have literally invaded our metropolis and the long strolls by the river, with sparkling sunsets to boot.
I recently celebrated the season by spending a lovely Sunday in Brooklyn. Why Brooklyn, you ask? Because that’s where the Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG)and the Takashi Murakami exhibit are! My secret was to combine the obvious flowers with the not-so-obvious ones… Let me share with you my wonderful outing.
Because the heat index in NYC has been above 100 degrees Fahrenheit for the past couple of days, I would recommend getting to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden no later than 11 a.m.. This way, by the time the heat becomes unbearable, you will be enjoying yourself inside the poshly air conditioned Brooklyn Museum. Enter from the North entrance of the Garden and buy a combination ticket from the booth, for the Garden and the Museum. It’s US$18 for both.
The great thing about going to Brooklyn is that both these venues are never crowded.
June is “Rose Month” at the BBG, so make sure to find your way to the Rose Garden and stroll through the
many lanes and trellises to find your favorites. Among mine are the Wild Roses varieties and the Fragrant Albas, which are used in the production of Rose Attar perfume. There are benches where you can sit and take in the scents, and the view. Peonies are also amazing flowers and what makes them truly special is that the good looking ones seem to always smell foul and the more plain ones always smell divine.
It’s Mother Nature’s way of being fair, of course!
No good outing anywhere is complete - in my view - without a meal, or at least a snack. The BBG has the lovely Terrace Cafe with a minimal but tasty menu. They even offer a delicious veggie burger, filled with spinach and edamame. After the snacks, browsing through the Garden’s gift shop completed the experience for me.
And across from the gift shop, a lovely pond with my VERY favorite flower in the world: the Lotus - symbol of purity and detachment.
The Murakami exhibit is an amazing opportunity to see the artist’s work in all its glory. From children’s toys, to Louis Vuitton handbags, to his own devastatingly colorful views of the nuclear bomb’s effects on Japan, his work truly left me breathless. The Museum’s curators must be commended for their great
work, as Murakami wallpaper covers every inch of the stairways inside the exhibit, as well as two rooms, filled to the brim with Murakami’s famous flowers. The Museum’s entrance, leading to the ticket line, has a DOB - the artist’s infamous cartoon character - balloon floating above the visitors’ heads and a large sculpture of a multi-limbed black being that bears a striking resemblance to the Hindu goddess Kali - the goddess of destruction.
That’s just it with Murakami: everything is coated in beautifully vibrant colors and almost cutesy and childish, but it all has a much stronger and deeper meaning.
Once done ogling over the artwork, there are plenty of spots where shopping can be achieved. And shopping you will crave, after viewing the spectacular collections of Murakami bags for Louis Vuitton. But although the French brand has an active shop inside the exhibit, what you won’t find there is the much anticipated, upcoming NEW joint collaboration handbag. What you fill find instead, in the exhibit’s shop downstairs, are cell phone charms, lovely t-shirts featuring DOB and Kaikai & Kiki, stickers and all kinds of little trinkets. I walked out with a pink flower phone charm - now hanging proudly from my white cell - and a few sheets of stickers, only to be placed on letters to really, really good friends!
Check out the fun, at the Brooklyn Museum and the BBG. But hurry, as Kaikai, Kiki, DOB, those Vuitton bags, and even the roses, will all be gone on the 14th of July…
Murakami images taken by courtesy of Brooklyn Museum - Top: DOB’s March; Bottom: Base of Tongari-kun; Louis Vuitton handbag image courtesy of Francesco Mosto.
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The BBG and the Murakami exhibit sound absolutely divine! Even though I can’t make it to NYC in time to see it-
I enjoyed your splendid description.