Superflat Sphere (White & Black)

Over the past two decades, Tokyo born Takashi Murakami has attracted a lot of attention for his work which attempts to blur the boundaries between high and low art. Although Murakami was classically trained in the 19th century Nihonga painting style, he quickly became absorbed in the world of anime and manga called otaku that had infiltrated Japanese pop culture in post-war Japan. Appropriating and combining images and themes from popular mass culture, Murakami created a style or movement now known as Superflat. In his manifesto he states: "I would like you, the reader, to experience the moment when the layers of Japanese culture, such as pop, erotic pop, otaku and H.I.S.-ism fuse into one...'Super flatness' is an original concept of Japanese who have been completely Westernized. With this concept, seeds for the future have been sown. Let's search the future to find them. 'Super flatness' is the stage to the future" (T. Murakami, quoted in Super Flat: Takashi Murakami, Tokyo 2000, p. 5).