The Murakami Exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum

I got to shoot Takashi Murakami the other day and I was thrilled beyond belief about working with him. My excitement led me to call a good friend who is also a well known artist. To my surprise he was not to thrilled about Murakami or his show at the Brooklyn Museum. I got into a interesting debate with him on the this topic of Art and Commerce. The Murakami exhibit has a Louis Vuitton Store on site at the Museum that sells limited edition bags and trinkets. There is also a Murakami store on site that has strictly Murakami toys and skateboards ect. This is a hot topic for friends of mine that are in the Art world. The Idea of a corporation holding real estate in a Museum is to some a sin on a monumental scale. The dear friend of mine who shall remain nameless for now was pretty upset about the Murakami exhibit. He thinks he is merely a commercial designer that has put a label on himself as an artist. He feels like the Louis Vuitton store is taking up valuable space that should be reserved for Artist work and not selling expensive bags. I see his point but I don't fully agree with him.