User:C0URTwals/Takashi Murakami

(Maybe in the current section of the article) We need to write something about the earthquake that happened in Japan in 2011, because it really impacted his work the following years. His 2014 show "In the Land of the Dead, Stepping on the Tail of the Rainbow" was influenced by Murakami's experience from the major earthquake that killed 16,000 people.

Many people compare Murakami to American artist Jeff Koons (this could be mentioned in the New York section), because of their affinity toward consumerism and their use of working artists to help create their artwork. Not sure how to phrase everything yet but they both use helpers, commercially cute imagery, and larger than life sculptures.

I feel like this article could use more about his re-occurring character Mr. DOB. -Courtney

Art style

Murakami's art encompasses a wide range of media and is generally described as superflat. It has been noted for its use of color, incorporation of motifs from Japanese traditional and popular culture, flat/glossy surfaces, and content that could be described at once as "cute", "psychedelic", or "satirical". Among his best known recurring motifs are smiling flowers, iconic characters, mushrooms, skulls, Buddhist iconography, and the sexual complexes of otaku culture. One of Murakami's most famous pieces known as 'Hiropon' brings to light his love for otaku culture. The sculpture that was created in 2001 is said to show the "otaku culture and its strange, shocking sexuality in full force".

Mr. Dob, mentioned above in the early background and academic career section, is a good example of the characteristics of Marukami’s Suprflat and his influence from Otaku culture.

Pg 398 murakami’s little boy

Academic career and early background

Murakami was dissatisfied with the state of contemporary art in Japan, believing it to be "a deep appropriation of Western trends." Thus, much of his early work was done in the spirit of social criticism and satire. On an article naming and explaining all of Murakami's pieces lies the infamous My Lonesome Cowboy, a companion to his earlier Hiropon. The sculpture is that of a naked anime character with blond spiky hair with a spiral trail of semen circling him. This piece is Murakami's most expensive piece to date selling for $15,100,000 at Sotheby’s New York auction in 2008. Efforts from this period include performance art (Osaka Mixer Project, 1992), parodies of the "message" art popular in Japan in the early '90s, (Dobozite Dobozite Oshamanbe, 1993), and conceptual works (e.g. Randoseru Project, 1991). He also began developing his own pop icon “Mr. Dob”, inspired by Andy Warhol’s surviving characters, and characters like Sonic the Hedgehog or Mickey Mouse. Mr. DOB, who has survived the art market as a recurring character, has changed many times throughout the years of his artistic career, and has even morphed into a self-portrait. Mr. Dob was just the first of several endlessly morphing and recurring motifs seen throughout his work. Though he garnered attention, many of his early pieces were not initially well received in Japan.

Pg 401 murakami’s little boy, pg 822 0f the cuteness of the avant garde