This June, Hypebeast Magazine is going to release the 25th edition of their magazine. A special edition one to commemorate this quarter century milestone. From posters and folders to postcards and phone cases, an artist named Takashi Murakami used a multitude of colors to inform people about the collection and different patterns to distinguish each variation.

Takashi Murakami is a Japanese contemporary artist that was born in Japan on February 1, 1962. When he was young, he already showed interest in art and had many ideas.

His art style is a mixture of traditional Japanese art with American popular culture. He made up a term for himself to reflect his own art style, “superflat”. In 2001, he founded his own production company called Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd-- a place for young artists to make art and manage them for a career.

In 2003, he blew up thanks to his amazing artwork and art styles that brought him to opportunities to collaborate with Marc Jacobs, the artistic director of the Louis Vuitton fashion house, and more. His artworks can also be found at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles and many other places.

Personally, he is one of the artists that really stood out. Interestingly, his works always gives me some sense of ease. Thanks to him, I realized that art has so many aspects to it and you can get so much joy out of it.

Overall, from the people that I interviewed, I learned that he also influenced other aspects of their lives. Most of my interviewers said that artists like Murakami made them want to know more about art and some even wanted to get into art in the future. Others said that he gives them fashion inspirations as the men always wear bold colors, plaid dress shirts, and colorful shoes.

He is an artist with an incredible amount of passion and ideas for art, and he is a true inspiration for a considerable amount of people on their perspectives on art.

I would love to meet and talk to him about his art career because he was the one who helped decide my future.

<Allen Liu Portola HS 11th Grade>