TAKASHI MURAKAMI (Tokyo, 1962)."Flower cushion.Soft sculpture. Limited edition.Official cushion produced by KaiKai Kiki Co. Ltd.Size: 60 x 60 x 15 cm.Happy Flower by Murakami, with a different design on each side. This is the official cushion distributed by the company, KaiKai and Kiki, which is the name adopted by the KaiKai and Kiki Co. foundation founded by Takashi Murakami in 2001, which took over the work of the Hiropon factory, which was founded in 1996. Its objectives as a company are based on support for the production and promotion of works of art, the management and support of young artists and the dissemination of their work.Murakami is one of the most influential artists of the Japanese post-war generation. Takashi Murakami was educated at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, where he graduated with a degree in Nihonga (traditional Japanese painting). In 1990 he was introduced to contemporary art by his partner and friend Masato Nakamura, and in 1993 he created his alter ego Mr. DOB. He then began to be recognised both inside and outside Japan for his particular synthesis of traditional Japanese art, the contemporary trends of his country (anime, manga, etc.) and American culture, mainly pop culture. In his work, Murakami conveys a critical vision of current Japanese society, the legacy of the country's cultural tradition, its evolution after the Second World War and its relationship with the Western world, especially with the United States. In his writings he coined the term "Superflat" to define his personal artistic style, a term that fits a work characterised by two-dimensionality and which also criticises the very structure of art, blurring the boundaries between high and low culture. In fact, his output spans multiple art forms, from painting and sculpture to industrial design, anime, fashion and other popular culture media and merchandising objects. His trilogy of exhibitions "Superflat" (2000, 2002 and 2005) has been shown at major art centres around the world, including the Parco Gallery in Tokyo, MOCA in Los Angeles, the Fondation Cartier in Paris and the Serpentine Gallery in London. Between 2008 and 2009 he was also the subject of retrospective exhibitions at MOCA, the Brooklyn Museum in New York, the Museum für Moderne Kunst in Frankfurt and the Guggenheim in Bilbao. Murakami is currently represented in leading museums around the world, including MoMA in New York, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and many others.