Takashi Murakami

Takashi Murakami is a prolific Japanese artist, whose work spans fine arts, digital and commercial media.

One of the worlds most prolific and collectable living artists, Murakami is often referred to as the Japanese Warhol. Like Warhol, Murakami's work blurs the boundary between high and low art, appropriating popular themes from mass media and pop culture.

Murakami attended the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, initially studying more traditionalist Japanese art. He pursued a doctorate in Nihonga, but due to the mass popularity of anime and manga, Japanese styles of animation and comic graphic stories, Murakami became disillusioned with Nihonga, and became fixated on otaku culture, which he felt was more representative of modern day Japanese life.

This resulted in Superflat, the style that Murakami is credited with starting - developed from Poku, (Pop + otaku).