If ever you were thinking about checking in on the gallery scene in Culver City, now is the time to do it. The new show by Takashi Murakami at Blum & Poe Gallery is a must-see. The Japanese superstar artist's new pieces are massive and psychedelically detailed. As David Pagel recently said in the Los Angeles Times, it's a "mind-blowing, eye-opening, soul-searching exhibition."

Continues the review:

Any one of the four works in the first gallery packs enough punch to stop you dead in your tracks. Nearly 10 feet tall and more than 32 feet long, the two largest paintings are jam-packed with so much to see that it’s easy to get lost in their visual density. Labyrinthine patterns, made of gold and platinum leaf, form dazzling backdrops that, on their own, put Op art to shame. The robes that clothe the legions of figures come in all colors and present an encyclopedic survey of the various ways paint can be applied: swiftly and slowly, by hand and screen-print, abstractly and representationally.

So many great details. Here's an elephant that is thinking about a meditating monk.

Here's a goat whose thoughts have perhaps taken leaf.

A cat and a lion:

And so many charismatic, freaked out monks:

The show will be up until May 25 and -- as with all the galleries -- it's free. You have about a month to check it out for yourself, so make a point to see it.