Cultured Magazine

Kyoto Ensō, 2018 Acrylic on canvas mounted on aluminum frame 55 1/2 x 47 1/4 x 2 inches 141 x 120 x 5 cm 152 culturedmag.com Virgil Abloh and Takashi Murakami first met more than 10 years ago in Murakami's studio. Since then, the Japanese ar tist has continued apace with his multihyphenate global practice making deeply layered fantastical paintings, supporting younger artists through his galler y platform Kaikai Kiki and presenting his work in myriad exhibitions, including a 2010 retrospective at the Palace of Versailles. Meanwhile, Abloh has rocketed to the top of the fashion universe, a position confirmed via his appointment earlier this year as Men's Artistic Director at Louis Vuitton. Through it all, the two have built a friendship and a shared creative practice that pushes against the parameters of both fashion and art, shaking the foundations of the institutions. Sara Roffino: You've known each other a long time. What about each other do you remember from first impressions? Virgil Abloh: At the time when we originally met I was working on an album packaging for Kanye West. I was the assistant on that project, and what I learned and admired and what stuck to me about Takashi's process from the very early days is the impact of his creative exercise. I saw the way he executes an idea in an artistic sense—how not only it is creative but that it is well-versed and well-executed in every way. Takashi Murakami: Kim Jones told me he also came at the same time to my studio, do you remember? VA: Yeah, I remember, but it's been so many years of working hard that the memories are tricky. It's the sign of a good life. TM: You guys have made success. I'm still in the same place. [Laughter.] Virgil was an assistant or intern then and now he is the center of the fashion industry. There's just no comparison. VA: I think what makes us a powerful combination is that we embrace the now. We come from two different worlds and two different practices, but we found our point of intersection in the work we create together, which is a commentary inspired by current times and current freedom. SR: You both have had to prove yourselves in a way that others haven't because you have not come from the traditional places or educational systems that people come through in your roles as a major contemporary artist and head of a fashion house. How has that experience informed or driven the creative process? TM: This might not answer your question, but I really want to understand the mystery of how Virgil does all his work. On Instagram it looks like right now he's just a DJ, but at the same time he is approving designs for Off-White and Louis Vuitton and doing all these other jobs. It's quite a mystery. I want to know how he does it so I can do it as well. [Laughter.] VA: For me, in order to be interdisciplinar y I have to live with interdisciplinarity. I work in one stream of consciousness. How I know an idea is relevant is by diversifying myself—in the kind of people I talk to, relate to, the industries I work in, the cities I travel to. When it comes to having creative output I'm drawing from increasing experience, so the method to my madness is to do all the things that I'm inspired by and not remove myself from anything that interests me. TM: Do you never get sick or tired even though you're doing everything? [Laughter.] VA: I don't work. I'm just living. The things I do are my calling. The only things I feel compelled to do are to put out creatively and have a dialogue with the world. The world consumes art but it also consumes music, it also consumes fashion and utilities. All those things have someone deciding what they should be and I've made it my practice to have an opinion and an output. TM: Virgil is just so driven to do his absolute best, he must be ver y good at creating an environment around him that makes everyone do their best. VA: It's an honor. SR: Virgil once said that when things are uncomfortable in a collaboration is the moment when a new space can emerge. Have there been any uncomfortable moments that were ultimately creatively fruitful within your collaboration? TM: I don't recall such an uncomfortable moment in this collaboration, do you, Virgil? VA: Our collaboration, I think, is rooted in filling a void. We both see a space within the art world for artists to come together and create. It's weird—in a way it doesn't feel like a collaboration, it feels like we've joined our brains together to think of an output, which I find more advanced than the word collaboration. SR: How would you describe the void that you're filling? VA: It's the notion that an artist's work sits differently if they combine with somebody else to ©P VIRGIL ABLOH AND ©P TAKASHI MURAKAMI. COURTESY GAGOSIAN

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