Artist of the Day = Takashi Murakami

Straight out of Japan, this guy can do it all and does. He mixes Western and Eastern styles in an art style he STARTED called Superflat. A lot of the stuff looks like it’s straight from a Japanese anime or manga comic strip, but make no mistake it’s something entirely unique. It can look like some pretty psychedelic stuff, and at times child-like/cartoony, but that’s exactly what makes it so powerfully new. You can group him in with previous AOTD in his style and mediums, but in many ways he’s more like their mentor.

Besides paintings, Murakami has made his name largely through his impact on the fashion industry. If you look enough, you’ll be able to find everything from t-shirts to watches with his distinctive style, but never is it cheap (ask Louis Vuitton, who he’s done a collaboration with). Toys/statues/figurines are also common staples of this generation of artist, and Murakami is no exception. And if you need any more proof of influence, this guy even designed one of Kanye West’s album covers (anybody who influences the mega trendsetters is practically from the future).

check him out