Takashi Murakami is a Japanese contemporary artist. He works in fine arts media (such as painting and sculpture) as well as commercial media (such as fashion, merchandise, and animation) and is known for blurring the line between high and low arts. He coined the term "superflat", which describes both the aesthetic characteristics of the Japanese artistic tradition and the nature of post-war Japanese culture and society, and is also used for Murakami's artistic style and other Japanese artists he has influenced.
Murakami is the founder and President of Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd., through which he manages several younger artists. He was the founder and organizer of the biannual art fair Geisai. In 1996, he created the Hiropon Factory in Japan, which later developed into Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd., a large art-making and artist management corporation. Murakami is also a curator and a critical observer of Japanese art.
In 2000, he founded the "superflat" movement, a post-modern style drawing inspiration from Japanese manga (comics created in Japan), graphic design, and traditional Japanese prints and screen paintings. Throughout his career, Murakami has increasingly blurred the boundaries between fine art and popular culture by branding his artwork and turning it into merchandise, particularly with the celebrated character Mr. Dob. His embrace of the commercial side of art reached a high point in 2003, when the artist began collaborating with Marc Jacobs in the redesign of the Louis Vuitton logo and handbags. Murakami currently lives and works in Tokyo and New York.
