Artist profile image credit: Photo by RK ( IG: @rkrkrk ). ©︎2019 Takashi Murakami/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

 

Takashi Murakami was born in 1962 in Tokyo, Japan. He studied at Tokyo University of the Arts, Japan, where he received his BFA in 1986, his MFA in 1988, and his Ph.D. in 1993. He founded Hiropon factory in Tokyo in 1996, now Kaikai Kiki, an art production and art management company which takes part in a wide range of operations: creating his art, fostering the careers of emerging artists, managing galleries, developing merchandise, and producing films, among others.

Murakami is well known for his high-profile projects with brands such as Louis Vuitton, VANS, shu uemura, Issey Miyake, Lucien Pellat-Finet, Roppongi Hills and ComplexCon, as well as collaborations with musicians such as Kanye West, Pharrell Williams and Billie Eilish. In 2008, he was selected as one of TIME magazine’s “The 100 Most Influential People.” From 2003, he was included in ArtReview’s Power 100 for ten consecutive years. He has also been engaged in a wide range of artistic undertakings such as curating exhibitions and collecting art and other curiosities for his personal collection. Between 2002 and 2014, he regularly organized “GEISAI,” a project intended to discover and nurture young artists from Japan and Taiwan. In all, approximately 20,000 artists participated in these projects. In response to the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake, he launched New Day, a charity initiative that carries out art auctions and other activities to help Japan recover from natural disasters. Murakami has also ventured into film and animation productions, releasing his first live-action feature film Jellyfish Eyes in 2013. He is currently working on the sequel to Jellyfish Eyes as well as an animated television series, 6HP (Six Hearts Princess).

Murakami continues to actively exhibit his works in major institutions around the world. Recent solo exhibitions have been held at Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, and Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. A major exhibition featuring over 60 paintings and sculptures is currently on view at Tai Kwun Contemporary in Hong Kong.