Takashi Murakami
Thursday May 27, 2010 at 8:00PM
One of today’s most influential and talked about contemporary artists is Takashi Muramaki. Muramaki’s work pushes the envelope, and blurs the lines between high and low art, creating a very controversial stylistic concept. He studied Art at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, where he became increasingly interested in mixing 19th century Eastern and Western art forms. Amidst his studies, he became overwhelmed and obsessed with the mainstream Japanese styles of animation, which caused him to switch his focus from old world art forms, to contemporary themed work. Today, Muramaki markets his art in all different forms to all different audiences, ranging from multi-million dollar sculptures and paintings to cell phone cases, lunch boxes, and children’s toys. This concept is often criticized by westerners who feel that “high art” is meant only to be viewed in a sophisticated and elegant form and setting. Muramaki feels that everyone is entitled to experience his work in their own way, and that an artist’s work should never be limited to an elite group of critics. He calls his style “Superflat”, which often immortalizes mushrooms, other colorful objects, and characters from Japanese cartoon genre’s- “anime” and “manga”. His style is characterized by using flat planes of color to recreate these images and characters. His pieces tend to comment on many aspects of Japanese pop culture, consumerism, sexual fetishism, and “Otaku” –which is a concept embodied by the idea of obsessive interests in anime, manga, and video games. One of his most notable and recognizable collaborations is the colorful Louis Vuitton hand bags that he designed featuring his prints and the Louis Vuitton logo.