UPCOMING EXHIBTION
Photo by Shin Suzuki. © Takashi Murakami / Kaikai Kiki Co. Ltd. All rights reserved
Takashi Murakami: Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow
May 25 – September 7, 2025
Member Preview Events: May 16–24, 2025 (reserve tickets)
Discover an incredible exhibition of works from a Japanese artist known for his unique style that examines the cultural energies of contemporary Japan—anime, manga, and the otaku culture that grew around these popular art forms—against the backdrop of Japanese traditions. Takashi Murakami uses his art to interpret historical events and their lasting effects, such as the end of World War II, the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Visitors can explore how—after shared traumatic events—art can address crisis, healing, outrage, and escapist fantasy. Artworks explore topics such as how people may change when experiencing trauma, how major disasters can lead to outpourings of creative and religious fervor, and how art addressing contemporary passions as diverse as gaming, the metaverse, trading cards, street fashion trends, anime, and manga can be an entry point to engaging the past.
The centerpiece of the exhibition is the re-creation of the Yumedono, or Dream Hall, from Nara Prefecture’s Hōryūji Temple complex in the Ames Family Atrium. The Yumedono is believed to occupy the same location as the home of Prince Shōtoku Taishi, who converted his father, Emperor Yōmei, to Buddhism in the late 500s CE by calling for Buddha to cure the emperor of an illness. Upon the emperor’s recovery, Buddhism was allowed formally into Japan. To this day, the Yumedono houses the Kuse Kannon (a likeness of Prince Shōtoku), which is believed to have the power to save people from suffering.
Don’t miss your chance to own a Cleveland-exclusive keepsake of a moment in art history. To celebrate our presentation of this exhibit, we’re giving away FREE limited-edition Takashi Murakami trading cards—created exclusively for Cleveland—to the first 50,000 guests to tour the exhibition, beginning at the All-Member Preview on May 16. First come, first served—once they’re gone, they’re gone.
To learn more and view all the related programs for our members, click here.
ONGOING EXHIBITIONS
Arnold Chang (American, b. 1954), Secluded Valley in the Cold Mountains 寒山幽谷, 2008, handscroll; ink on paper, painting section: 23 5/8 x 136 5/8 in.(60 x 347 cm), John L. Severance Fund 2024.69 © Arnold Chang
Landscapes by Arnold Chang: A Retrospective and Recent Acquisitions 張洪山水畫回顧展
March 8 – November 9, 2025
This installation reviews the artistic career of Arnold Chang (张洪) (Zhang Hong, American, born 1954) and celebrates the museum’s recent acquisition by Chang, Secluded Valley in the Cold Mountains, a pivotal work that marks his breakthrough as an international contemporary ink artist. Showcasing 18 works by the artist, plus the CMA’s Number 5, 1950 (1950) by Jackson Pollock, the exhibition explores Chang’s formative years, which eventually culminate in free and exploratory ways that include the use of photography and color.
Shahzia Sikander: Collective Behavior
February 14 – June 8, 2025
Shahzia Sikander: Collective Behavior premiered at the Palazzo Soranzo van Axel in Venice where it is on view April 20–October 20, 2024. Co-organized by the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Cincinnati Art Museum, Collective Behavior is a Collateral Event of the 60th International Art Exhibition—La Biennale di Venezia and is the most comprehensive presentation of the artist’s work to date. In conjunction with the Venice exhibit, we presents Sikander’s art in relation to South Asian objects from the museum’s collection that have inspired her. This exhibition offers a narrative that the CMA is uniquely suited to share: it carries forward in time the rich histories that are encompassed in the museum’s renowned South Asian collection. Simultaneously, it situates contemporary artistic practice in relation to the global history that precedes it. The Cincinnati Art Museum concurrently offers a comprehensive presentation of the artist’s career to date.
Contemporary Calligraphy and Clay
June 7, 2024 – June 15, 2025
Calligraphy and ceramics are two major art forms in Japanese culture. They have historically been appreciated together, often paired in spaces called tokonoma, or simply toko, a term that can be translated as “display alcove.” For centuries, people have hung calligraphy or paintings on the wall of a toko and placed ceramics, lacquers, or metalworks on the deck to create a particular mood for an occasion. Traditional reception rooms, living rooms, guest rooms, and teahouses, places where people hold small, significant gatherings, often feature toko. While toko are less common in newer architectural structures due to various factors, including limited space and a shift away from floor culture, today’s artists continue to create with them in mind but also increasingly envision new environments for their works. This installation considers the bond of calligraphy and clay through contemporary artworks set in the modern space of the museum gallery.
The two couples reach a foreign city where they make their home, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Thirty-third Night, c. 1560. Mughal India, court of Akbar (reigned 1556–1605). 1962.279.222.b
Indian Painting of the 1500s: Continuities and Transformations
March 7 – September 7, 2025
When the 1500s began, the dominant style of Indian painting was flat and abstract with a limited, mainly primary color palette. By the 1520s, a new style emerged with greater narrative complexities and dramatic energy that was to be foundational for later developments. Concurrently, some artists began working in the pastel palette and with delicate motifs reinterpreted from Persian art. Then, around 1560, with the exuberant patronage of the third Mughal emperor Akbar (born 1542, reigned 1556–1605), artists from different parts of the empire and trained in a variety of Indian styles came together in a new imperial painting workshop. The workshop was led by Persian masters brought from the imperial court in Iran. The formation of Mughal painting shaped by Akbar’s taste for drama and realism had a lasting impact on the cultural life of India. With its naturalism and vibrant compositions, the revolutionary new style was distinct from its predecessors, both Indian and Persian. The paintings in this gallery trace the dramatic changes that occurred during the 1500s alongside compositions that artists chose to retain and reinvent. Central to this story is a manuscript of the Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot), an illustrated collection of fables made for Akbar around 1560–65 now in the Cleveland Museum of Art.
Reinstallation of Krishna Lifting Mount Govardhan
October 12, 2024 – November 2, 2025
The monumental sculpture of Krishna Lifting Mount Govardhan returns to the permanent collection galleries for the first time since its new reconstruction was completed in 2021. To complement this major addition, 13 stone and bronze works from India, Cambodia, and Indonesia are also brought out for display.
Juxtaposition and Juncture in Korean Modern and Contemporary Art
March 21, 2025 – April 1, 2026
The term “juxtaposition” here refers to the placement of two or more artworks that are significantly different from one another side by side. Featuring Korean modern and contemporary objects that the CMA has collected over the past 15 years, this thematic exhibition juxtaposes them to create an exciting juncture of connections through their visual and material contrasts. While the selected works were created by Korean artists from diverse backgrounds and different generations, they make a poignant meeting place illustrating how objects from the past inspired contemporary artists to create new experiences and artistic expressions.
To learn more about all these exhibitions and more, click here.
