Takashi Murakami is a well known contemporary artist around the world. He was born on 1963 in Tokyo, Japan and attended The Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. He came from an artistic family who all enjoyed the art art world. Murakami is not just a designer but he also does paintings. At first Murakami was going to study Nihonga but he lost interest in it and became more interested in the otaku culture of anime. This lead him to start a movement called "superflat" which was influenced by manga and anime. This style "superflat" consists of flat planes and images which comes from the style of anime.
Murakami is not only an artist but also a businessman, he founded the KaiKai Kiki LLC which is a studio in which they produce his work. This studio holds biannual events which helps amatuer artists get exposed to the national and international art scene. He has had many exhibitions throughout the world from Serpentine Gallery in London to the Boston museum of Fine Arts. His art is very well known in the Japanese culture due to the never ending growth of the anime/manga population. Some critiques call his art childish and do not take him seriously but Murakami ignores the criticism, the style he choose to pursue has its own aesthetic qualities to them.
His art grasps the understandings of modernist culture in Japan through his cartoonist style of design. This style of his has given him much recognition around the world and he was listed in Time's Magazine as one the most influential people in the world of 2008. The use of color and the ways in which he develops his works is very unique. The colors are very vibrant and the use of imagery brings the art alive. His art has a reoccurring theme to it, from eyeballs to mushrooms and flowers his style is creepy yet intriguing. One of my favorite pieces he has done was Kanye West "Graduation" album cover. He gives the album cover his usual anime/manga feeling into the piece which was really interesting due to the fact that most album covers do not have this style. Also by incorporating the japanese culture into the album cover it helps describe the art he wishes to make. His style is also influenced by what Murakami calls it "Poku" which is pop and otaku culture. Poku reflects how otakus are fascinated by manga and anime through the character development. His career began through his fascination of otaku's and the way they acted.
Murakami is one of my favorite designers at the moment due to the fact that his art is much different than what is seen today. Also I am a fan of anime and manga i find myself enjoying his artistic talent more than other artists/designers. His art draws out the culture of Japan with images that create a sense of fast movement and cuteness that can be seen all around Japan. The piece below is Kanye West's album cover, Graduation:
resources:
http://www.notablebiographies.com/newsmakers2/2004-Ko-Pr/Murakami-Takashi.html
rogallery.com/Murakami_Takashi/murakami-biography.html
http://www.jca-online.com/murakami.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takashi_Murakami
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