Famous for his signature flowers and celebrity collaborations, Takashi Murakami is one of the most important Japanese artists working today. In the mid-1990s Murakami coined the term ‘superflat’ to describe the distinctive treatment of space in contemporary Japanese art. He understands all art as two-dimensional and worthy of equal weight, whether music video, cartoon or painting. His complex, anime-inspired sculptures, paintings and prints aim to level the playing field between high and low culture.
Born in 1962, Murakami studied at Tokyo’s National University of Fine Arts and Music. His art is rooted in the history of Japan, and in particular the impact of the atomic bombs that destroyed Nagasaki and Hiroshima. ‘During my childhood, there were a lot of people around me who were damaged by the war and suffered from sicknesses caused by the atomic bomb,’ he explains. His art’s pictorial flattening relates to this devastation, and to the conceptual levelling of postmodern pop culture.
Murakami creates supercharged, cartoonish pictures using refined classical Japanese painting techniques. His motifs range from religious iconography and ancient woodcuts to commercial graphic design. The results are psychedelic and eccentric. Figurines and paintings depict goggle-eyed rabbits and smiling flowers. Installations featuring his famous avatar, Mr Dob, are childish paradises of kitsch delight. He has partnered with mega-brands such as Louis Vuitton, and made album art, music videos and clothing with Kanye West and Billie Eilish.
In 1996 Murakami founded the Hiropon Factory in Tokyo, inspired by Andy Warhol’s Factory. Now called Kaikai Kiki, it is a corporation that manufactures and distributes Murakami’s art. The establishment also fosters the work of other Japanese artists, including MADSAKI, Aya Takano and Murakami’s protegé MR.
Takashi Murakami (b. 1962)
Tan Tan Bo
Takashi Murakami (b. 1962)
Kaikai Kiki
TAKASHI MURAKAMI (B. 1962); & PHARRELL WILLIAMS (B. 1973)
The Simple Things
Takashi Murakami (b. 1962)
DOB in the Strange Forest (Blue DOB)
TAKASHI MURAKAMI (B. 1962)
Wow, Kaikai Kiki
TAKASHI MURAKAMI (Japanese, B. 1962)
Flower Matango (d)
Takashi Murakami (b. 1962)
Oval Buddha Silver
TAKASHI MURAKAMI (JAPANESE, B. 1962)
When I Close My Eyes, I See Shangri-la
TAKASHI MURAKAMI (B. 1962)
The Castle of Tin Tin
TAKASHI MURAKAMI (B. 1962)
Hands Clasped
Takashi Murakami (b. 1962)
Flowerball Brown
Takashi Murakami (b. 1962)
Spring Liquid
TAKASHI MURAKAMI (JAPANESE, B. 1962)
Melting DOB: Complex Blue
TAKASHI MURAKAMI (Japanese, B. 1962)
Skulls & Flowers Red
Takashi Murakami (b. 1962)
Genome No. 10^7x2^122
Takashi Murakami (b. 1962)
In the Deep DOB-Yellow/Green/Pink/Acqua Blue/Purple
Takashi Murakami (b. 1962)
Melting DOB C
Takashi Murakami (b. 1962)
And Then, And Then And Then And Then And Then. Yellow Universe
Takashi Murakami (b. 1962)
New day: Kaikai and Kiki, Faces All-Over
Takashi Murakami (b. 1962)
New day DOB's Acrobatic Spectacular: Society
TAKASHI MURAKAMI (B. 1962)
Thinking Matter (Red)
Takashi Murakami (b. 1962)
And then, and then and then and then and then
Takashi Murakami (b. 1962)
New day: Face of the Artist
TAKASHI MURAKAMI (B. 1962)
Posi Mushroom
TAKASHI MURAKAMI (B. 1962)
Time Bokan - Pink
Takashi Murakami (b. 1962)
Mononoke
Takashi Murakami (b. 1962)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
TAKASHI MURAKAMI (B. 1962)
Homage to Francis Bacon (Study for Head of George Dyer (On Light Ground))
Takashi Murakami (B. 1962)
Miss ko 2
TAKASHI MURAKAMI (B. 1962)
A Panda Family Against the Blue Sky
TAKASHI MURAKAMI (B. 1962)
Kōrin: Tranquility
Takashi Murakami (b. 1962)
And then, and then and then and then and then
Takashi Murakami (b. 1962)
Jellyfish Eyes-Black 4
Takashi Murakami (b. 1962)
PO + KU Surrealism Mr. DOB - Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple, Pink
Takashi Murakami (b. 1962)
Sakura
Takashi Murakami (b. 1962)
Flower Ball (Brown)
Takashi Murakami (b. 1962)
Flowerball Pink
TAKASHI MURAKAMI (B. 1962)
I open wide my eyes but see no scenery. I fix my gaze upon my heart.
TAKASHI MURAKAMI (B. 1962)
VAN GOGH
TAKASHI MURAKAMI (B. 1962)
Ensō: Exponentially Expanding Universe
Takashi Murakami (b. 1962)
Melting DOB D
Takashi Murakami (b. 1962)
Cherries
Takashi Murakami (b. 1962)
Sphere Monogram (White)
Takashi Murakami (b. 1962)
Flower Ball (3-D) Red Cliff
Takashi Murakami (b. 1962)
And then, and then, and then, and then, and then / Kappa
TAKASHI MURAKAMI (NE EN 1962)
ACUPUNCTURE/FLOWERS (CHECKERS)
TAKASHI MURAKAMI (B. 1962)
Me and Kaikai and Kiki
Takashi Murakami (b. 1962)
Melting DOB E
TAKASHI MURAKAMI (B. 1962)
Panda & Panda Cubs