Superflat meets Superego.

I saw a CD for Kanye West's single Stronger while shopping at Target yesterday, and thought the artwork was a complete ripe-off of Takashi Murakami. Well apparently it isn't a rip-off (really? <>).

I am a big fan of Murakami's work. Pre-LV (you know, the Louis Vuitton handbags with those cute little smiley-faced cherry blossoms - the most bootlegged purses in history). I first fell in love with his work when Art in America had an article on his 2001 "Superflat" exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. The bizarre, vibrant paintings of mushrooms were absolutely captivating! Love at first site.

My first experience seeing his work in person was in 2004, when Mr. Johnson and I went to the Supernova: Art of the 1990s from the Logan Collection exhibit at SFMoMA. In one of the rooms was a giant sculpture of a manga-esque man, ahem, pleasuring himself and a woman with Pamela Anderson-sized boobies squirting a blue liquid out of them. Really, whats not to love.

Don't judge him on his Kanye work alone (although I hate to admit, as is the case with Kanye's music, it's all pretty bitchin'). Check out this Jonathon Ross interview. It's a really interesting look into what inspires Murakami. Plus the background music is rad.