Courtesy of geffen contemporary Takashi Murakami's work comes in all sizes and shapes — including giant balloons.

Courtesy of geffen contemporary Kaikai and Kiki, the animated stars of Takashi Murakami's new movie, get the 3-D treatment in this installation. A 10-minute clip from the film is being screened as part of the Geffen Contemporary exhibit.

Courtesy of geffen contemporary Takashi Murakami possesses a "truly unique" 21st-century artistic sensibility, says Geffen Contemporary curator Paul Schimmel. More than 90 works by the artist, including this three-panel piece called "727-727," are on view.

Exactly who is the real Takashi Murakami?

Stepping into the Geffen Contemporary gallery at The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, it's hard to tell.

To the right are "Hiropon" (1997) and "My Lonesome Cowboy" (1998), a pair of Murakami-designed fiberglass-and-steel creations depicting a naked man and woman. Both are done in the style of Japanese animation known as anime.

To the left is a 500-case curio room packed with T-shirts, postcards and other affordable objects designed by the artist and mass-produced in his Tokyo factory, à la Andy Warhol.

Straight ahead, Murakami's 18-foot aluminum-and-steel masterpiece "Oval Buddha" (2007) surveys its surroundings.

And standing in the middle of it all last Friday was Murakami himself, who in the past two decades has become a walking, talking brand name. Murakami and his art have become synonymous, which is why Geffen Contemporary curators dubbed this 90-piece retrospective © Murakami.

The title makes sense for a man who not only puts his name on every piece of merchandise he sells, but also this slogan: "Finest in quality around the world."

If you believe exhibit curator Paul Schimmel, the slogan isn't an exaggeration.

"It's the beginning of this sense of an identity that would change and merge and evolve over the last 15 years," Schimmel said. "In fact, it represents truly a 21st-century vision, a vision that doesn't separate between Japan and the United States and Europe, between high and low, between traditional and popular. The collision of these worlds is Takashi Murakami's world."

There also is a connection between art and business, which comes sharply into focus in the Louis Vuitton store, located inside the © Murakami exhibition. The 1,000-square-foot, fully functional boutique sells bags and other items with Murakami designs.

"The store may be a controversial subject," Murakami said. "But MOCA said it was OK, so we go ahead with the new project. We wait for the reaction."

Despite some of his work's graphic nature, Murakami is interested to see the reaction of young people, some of whom are sure to be quite attracted to the artist's new foray into animation.

Rapper Kanye West, who is a fan of the artist, not only had Murakami illustrate the cover for his latest CD, "Graduation," but enlisted him to create an animated video for the song "Good Morning." In the exhibit, the video is screened along with a 10-minute clip of Murakami's full-length movie "Kaikai & Kiki" and a preview of his first foray into live action, "Dharma."

As for the rest of the show — and there's plenty, not even counting the 500-object gallery — Schimmel has given it sort of a greatest-hits treatment, re-creating the most memorable moments from previous Murakami shows.

"More than any artist I've ever worked with, Murakami puts it all on the table," Schimmel said. "He says, Here it is. Here's everything I've ever done. I'm 45 years old. How do I move on?' And he starts anew."

That "new" is highlighted by "Oval Buddha," which, Schimmel said, took more than five years to create. It signals Murakami's transformation from a painter into a sculptor.

Fashioned out of gleaming aluminum and steel, with platinum leafing, "Oval Buddha" contains in one work the essential elements that define Murakami's career — religious iconography juxtaposed with pop-culture obsession, birth versus destruction, playful naughtiness tangled with quiet contemplation.

Whether you admire Murakami's artistic vision, or simply dismiss it as throwaway kitsch, there's no denying that his work is eye-catching. And, if you believe him, it's also "the finest in quality around the world."

— E-mail freelance columnist Jeff Favre at jjfavre@yahoo.com.