Written by @d0nstatus
A staple of art and hip-hop culture is what Murakami’s ‘Flowers’ piece has become. Murakami has displayed a dreadful masterpiece with its meaning dating back to the days of World War 2. In a New York Times article from 2005, the artist illustrates that the piece “evoked repressed, contradictory emotions and collective trauma of Japanese locals triggered by the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings of 1945.”(Estiller) He shows the diabolical concept in a 2019 music video for artist Billie Eilish. Lastly, Murakami blends Japanese subculture with western art practices to make truly riveting contradictory pop art.
“We want to see the newest things. That is because we want to see the future, even if only momentarily. it is the moment in which, even if we don’t completely understand what we have glimpsed, we are nonetheless touched by it. This is what we have come to call art.”
Takashi murakami
He drew inspiration from George Lucas and Walt Disney as he began to dive into maximalism. They showed him the importance of submerging himself in a surrealist world to create world-changing art. Not only that, but he used those things and combined his traditional Japanese culture and shaped a pure artistic mind from a young age.
From there Murakami received comparisons to Andy Warhol for his perplexing work. He began to blur the lines between pop, art, commerce, and subcultural concerns and made people question the true extent of Murakami’s talent. He loved anime as a kid and he explains that manga uses traditional structures to teach and transmit a very direct message. Murakami created the ‘Flowers’ piece in 1995 and it changed the entire landscape of the abstract art scene. It took fashion by storm and ultimately garnered him opportunities to work with Kanye West, Kid Cudi, and Drake. Over time, it slowly took over pop culture and now can be found on everything, from luxury goods to food packaging.
“My aesthetic sense was formed at a young age by what surrounded me: the narrow residential spaces of Japan and the mental escapes from those spaces that took the forms of manga and anime.”
Takashi Murakami
In closing, Murakami has ultimately changed the way we view art ultimately. He created the term “Superflat” which refers to a postmodern art music movement. Its art is known for its bold, flat colors, and cartoon-like outline and has significantly influenced fashion, art, design, and other creative mediums. He ultimately changed the way we view art today, and influenced an entire generation of new artists and bright minds in the world today.
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