Takashi Murakami Research Paper

Takashi Murakami is an incredible, talented Japanese artist whose modern artwork has attracted even the biggest names in the industry for collaborations, such as Kanye West and Louis Vuitton. Although Murakami does not think of his artwork as Pop Art, his work does have a Pop Art feel to it. To people without the knowledge of history behind his work, they will think that his work is happy and colorful, but behind the bright colors and the happy caricatures, Murakami tells a story that was inspired by the struggles of discriminated people.
When Murakami first began his career as an artist, he felt that Japanese art was influenced by the western trends. As he began to distance himself from that trend, he began to experiment with his own creativity and thus, Mr. BOD was born. Some of his work is inspired by disasters, for instance, after the Fukushima disaster, he created the Arhat

paintings, to remind people to not give up.

Every character he creates, there is a dark story behind it. His work relates to Andy Warhol’s pop art, but in the sense that Andy used every day items for inspiration, whereas Murakami has done the exact opposite in turning his artwork into everyday items, such as appliances and toys.
Takashi Murakami’s work is not so different from Asian cultural art. When looking at images of the different Buddha’s and Bodhisatvva’s, you see that some have a stern look on their facial expression, but there are others that wear a serene smile. Murakami’s characters share that same trait. When he painted the Arhat paintings after the Fukushima disaster to remind the Japanese people to not lose hope, he could have painted the characters with positive features and facial expressions, yet he did not. He used distorted features to almost present them as melting and not a part of this world anymore. Some of the characters seem to be agonizing in pain,

which could be due to the aftermath of the Fukushima disaster. One character on the right-hand side of the painting, which has no shirt on and at first glance appears to be sitting on a lotus flower, could have been inspired by a Buddha. As we have learned in class, the Buddha associated with good fortune and wealth was mostly displayed with his chest bare, proudly baring their oversized bellies, and at time, sitting on a lotus flower. This particular character shows signs that it may have been inspired by that particular Buddha. On Murakami’s painting, the character is standing behind three other characters, much smaller in size, which hide his legs, and he is wearing green pants that seem to be tied around his waist, giving the illusion that he may be sitting on a lotus flower. Another trait that the character shares with the Buddha is that he is baring his oversized belly and oversized navel and breasts. Unlike the Buddha, he does not wear a serene smile on his face, as he shows signs of the same distorted facial expressions as the rest of the characters. This painting speaks to everyone as it is seen as a reminder that life goes on and to not lose hope and not give up even under the hardest circumstances.