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 is one the most prominent contemporary Japanese artists of the 20th century, born in Tokyo during 1962 and raised in a household that placed a high value on art. Murakami paints in an innovative style he calls “superflat”, a style that draws much inspiration from Japanese culture and aesthetic motifs found in animé and traditional Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock printing. This contrast of commercial art style infused with conceptual high art content is a source of confusion and challenges the viewer’s idea of credibility and the difference between low and high art. So here at Merch Monster Studio he earns his spot as the second inductee.

By: Kevin M. Lee