[News Figures] Otaku Artist Murakami Takashi

Japanese Popular Culture Considered Superior to High Culture
Social Criticism Embedded in Bizarre Expressions
Artistic World Transformed After Great East Japan Earthquake

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Seung-gon] The retrospective exhibition "Murakami Zombie," highlighting the works of Japanese pop artist Takashi Murakami (61), opened on the 26th at the Busan Museum of Art. This is his first solo exhibition in Korea in 10 years since the 2013 exhibition at the Samsung Museum of Art, Plato. The exhibition space is filled with large canvases featuring grotesque characters, and visitors are greeted by "Murakami Zombie" sculptures depicting various yokai as well as figures with rotting flesh dripping off.

This exhibition is the fourth in the Busan Museum of Art's "Lee Ufan and His Friends" series, with painter Lee Ufan (86) actively inviting Murakami. Murakami, who was invited, said, "It was an honor to receive an invitation from Lee Ufan, who is respected in the contemporary Japanese art world." In the exhibition invitation letter sent to Murakami, Lee evaluated, "Murakami's works are lively, humorous, and colorful at first glance, but upon closer inspection, they contain poison and strong criticism that cannot be overlooked."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Calling himself an "otaku artist," Murakami, born in 1962, grew up alongside postwar Japanese animation. Known to have been deeply impressed by "Galaxy Express 999" and "Future Boy Conan" in his teens, he entered Tokyo University of the Arts in 1986, majoring in Nihonga (Japanese-style painting) for his bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees. Murakami, who has long believed that Japanese popular culture embodies a superior Japanese identity compared to high culture, proposed the concept of "Superflat," which breaks down the boundaries between "East and West," "tradition and modernity," and "high culture and subculture." When he visited Korea for a solo exhibition in 2013, he explained his artistic style as "Japanese animation and games contain traditional Japanese painting compositions. I tried to find contrasting elements with Western art through artworks from the Edo period and the Muromachi shogunate era."

Murakami founded the company "Hiropon Factory" in 1996, which was renamed "Kaikai Kiki" in 2001. Through collaboration with many employees, he has produced artworks and developed art-related products. Regarding the impact of his works on society, he said in an interview with a media outlet, "I believe I have contributed to lowering the threshold of art, but some say I have spread a bad atmosphere. I leave it to the audience to decide whether such art is needed in the future."

Looking at his works born from this process, the art world evaluates that although they may seem confusing at first, a closer look reveals the human inner self. For example, characters may appear cute but have confused expressions, or have chaotic, mixed-up bodies, or individuals who are blind to various disasters happening around them, all of which are grotesque but carry social criticism messages. In this exhibition, he explores the changes in his artistic world, starting from the birth of his signature character "Mr. DOB" (a combination of Doraemon and Super Sonic characters) under the themes of "cuteness," "grotesqueness," and "transience," leading to realizations about the transience of life.

Takashi Murakami is posing in front of his work Desire's Flame·Gold ahead of the opening of the fourth series of Lee Ufan and His Friends exhibition, "Takashi Murakami: Murakami Zombie," held on the 26th at the Busan Haeundae-gu Municipal Museum of Art. Photo by Yonhap News

The global art world has shown great interest in Murakami's works. Figures resembling him were auctioned for 17 billion won at Sotheby's New York in 2008, and a large painting from 2013 sold for 5 million dollars at Phillips New York in 2021. He was also named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2008. In 2002, he was recruited as a designer by Louis Vuitton, showcasing kidult products such as figures.

His artistic world reportedly underwent significant changes following the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. In an interview with reporters before the exhibition opening, Murakami revealed, "My family was poor and struggling when I was young. I followed my parents into a new religious movement but left it in my early twenties, developing a strong aversion to religion." He continued, "However, during the earthquake, I saw a broadcast showing a neighbor telling a child who lost their family in the tsunami that 'your mother has become a star,' which felt like witnessing the moment religion begins." He said, "Religion provides stories to people in great pain to calm their panic. From then on, I thought I should convey something through art that tells a story."