The Takashi Murakami Brand

Takashi Murakami barely needs any introduction in Pop art and culture. The artist has worked on projects with many celebrities like actress Kirsten Dunst, rapper Kanye West, footballer Lionel Messi and many other influential figures. For the summer solstice of 2011, the he even took part in Google's doodles project and contributed Superflat doodles for decorating the main page of users' searches.

But he still has much more to offer the Pop scene. In months to come, Murakami will be working with Pharrell Williams to put together the what is anticipated to be the ultimate Pop culture. It will take place in November this year.

ComplexCon will be an event that combines music, art and fashion that's trending in current world culture. While the exact details of the line-up are yet to be made public, both Williams and Murakami have signed on as host committee members. Murakami will be responsible for designing the event's brand, a fitting thing for the artist to do, as he's been very successful in creating a brand for himself as an artist.

Takashi Murakami's Collaborations and Style

By working with famous brands and keeping the general feel of his work consistent, Murakami has been able to build one of the most well-known artist brands around. He never says no to a new challenge, and has done everything from sculpting to creating short films and fashion accessories.

In one of his most well-known collaborations, Murakami partnered with fashion designer Marc Jacobs from Louis Vuitton to create a successful range of handbags, clutch bags, purses and other accessories printed with his art. The range was very successful, and helped to further Murakami as one of the current leaders in Pop art.

As an artist, he aims to promote and popularize Japanese art. He refers to the work he creates as being Superflat, which is a style he's developed. Superflat as an artistic style is becoming ever more popular in both Japan and other countries. Murakami developed this style by combining older Japanese art styles with the new, more Pop orientated animé style that's been popular in Japanese animations since the late twentieth century. Adding his own dash of unique interpretation to the art styles he takes inspiration from, Murakami has been able to perfect his own colorful, Superflat style.

Something that makes Murakami's work stand out, would definitely be that it mostly seems to be lighthearted and colorful. This sets a mood that the broader public can appreciate. He often uses flowers or strange animé-like characters in his works and they're very easy on the eyes. Set in even the most bland space, Murakami's art would still look as good as ever and add an undeniable sense of personality.

Recent Projects

The artist showed only recently in Seattle with an exhibition titled Juxtapoz x Superflat. And next year he's expected to have another exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in Chicago. The exhibition is planned to be a retrospective of Murakami's work, and the Museum of Modern Art hopes the reach the public with more relevant works through showing popular artists.

But if you missed the artist's recent exhibition in Seattle and you're unable attend Murakami's Chicago retrospective next year, you can still see original Murakami art right here in Florida. At Vertu, we enjoy collecting prints by many modern artists, including Takashi Murakami. We have a few prints by the artist available that we are sure any Murakami fan would be proud to own. If you're interested in learning more, feel free to contact us or visit our gallery in Boca Raton.