Takashi Murakami is a famous Japanese artist. He obtained his BA, MFA and PhD at the Tokyo University of the Arts. His major area was nihonga (Japanese traditional paintings). He established the Hiropan Factory, a studio/workshop in 1996. This studio later grew into Kaikai Kiki Co. Ltd. 

Takashi Murakami’s work centered around pop culture, especially the Japanese one. His early works like Miss Ko (1997), Hiropan (1997) and My Lonesome Cowboy (1998) are anime-like sculptures. Meanwhile, he also created Mr. DOB, smiling flowers, bears, and lions which incorporates features of popular cartoon in Japan, US and Europe. With his Superflat movement, he stressed “flatness” in Japanese visual culture. Japanese woodblock prints, anime and kawaii are important elements of his artworks under this movement. He is an all-round artist, who is able to create works with different materials and who can breakthrough the boundary between fine art and commercial art. 

Though he recently announced that he had to end his second film Jellyfish Eyes Part 2: Mahashankh as his company is facing bankruptcy, I thought he would be able to overcome this with his passion and his comprehensive and rigorous way of preparing artwork.

More on Takashi Murakami:

https://www.taikwun.hk/en/programme/detail/murakami-vs-murakami/362

https://gagosian.com/artists/takashi-murakami/

https://news.artnet.com/art-world/takashi-murakami-bankruptcy-video-1891602