Takashi Murakami (Japanese, 1962)                         

Year: 2013

Medium: Color Lithograph

Edition Num.: 63/300

Printer/Publisher: Kaikai Kiki

Dimensions: 19.5" x 19.5" (31.5" x 31.5" with frame)

“My art is not Pop art. It is a record of the struggle of the discriminated people.”  –Takashi Murakami

Depicting Murakami’s Mr DOB, a hybrid cartoon figure that is partially based on a stylized portrait of the artist himself, this work features the artist’s now iconic character in a delicate pink and a saturated blue. DOB is an abbreviation for "why," reflecting Murakami's critical attitude towards the emptiness of consumer society. The flatness of the image references traditional Japanese painting and lends itself to the two-dimensional quality of contemporary media imagery and computer graphics. Culling from Western styles, contemporary media, and the subculture of otaku (the obsession often associated with manga and anime), Murakami is able to reflect on a variety of issues, such as the impact of technology and globalization, and their effect on national and individual identity.

Takashi Murakami is an internationally prolific contemporary Japanese artist that has introduced his theory of “Superflat” of Japan to the rest of the world. The term describes both the aesthetic characteristics of the Japanese artistic tradition and the nature of post-war Japanese culture and society. Murakami repackages elements that are usually considered “low” or subcultural and presents them in the “high-art” market, much like Andy Warhol. Murakami feels everyone should have available access to fine art.

Born and raised in Tokyo, Japan, Murakami was an enthusiastic follower of animation and manga (Japanese comics), and aspired to one day work in the animation industry. With his distinctive “Superflat” style and ethos, involving classical Japanese painting techniques to depict a super-charged mix of Pop, animé and otaku content within a flattened representational picture-plane, he moves freely within an ever-expanding field of aesthetic issues and cultural inspirations. Parallel to utopian and dystopian themes, he recollects and revitalizes narratives of transcendence and enlightenment. Mining religious and secular subjects favored by the so-called Japanese “eccentrics” or non-conformist artists of the Early Modern era commonly considered to be counterparts of the Western Romantic tradition, Murakami situates himself within their legacy of bold and lively individualism in a manner that is entirely his own and of his time.