Superflat also served as a commentary on postwar Japanese society in which, Murakami argues, differences in social class and popular taste have 'flattened,' producing a culture with little distinction between 'high' and 'low'. This style differentiates itself from the western approach in its emphasis on surface and use of flat planes of color. The theory posits that there is a legacy of flat, 2-dimensional imagery from Japanese art history in manga and anime. In 2000, Murakami published his ' Superflat' theory in the catalogue for a group exhibition of the same name that he curated for the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. After returning to Japan, he would develop the core concepts behind his artistic practice and begin exhibiting regularly at major galleries and institutions across Europe and America. He established a small studio, which, together with the Hiropon Factory in Japan, became the precursor to his company Kaikai Kiki. During his stay, he was exposed to and highly inspired by Western contemporary artists such as Anselm Kiefer and especially the simulationism of artists such as Jeff Koons. In 1994, Murakami received a fellowship from the Asian Cultural Council and participated in the PS1 International Studio Program in New York City for a year. Though he garnered attention, many of his early pieces were not initially well received in Japan. DOB,' which would later develop into a form of self-portraiture, the first of several endlessly morphing and recurring motifs seen throughout his work. He also began developing his own pop icon, 'Mr. Efforts from this period include performance art (Osaka Mixer Project, 1992), parodies of the 'message' art popular in Japan in the early '90s, (Dobozite Dobozite Oshamanbe, 1993), and conceptual works (e.g. This piece is Murakami's most expensive piece to date selling for $15,100,000 at SothebyвЂ™s New York auction in 2008. The sculpture is that of a naked anime character with blond spiky hair with a spiral trail of semen circling him. On an article naming and explaining all of Murakami's pieces lies the infamous My Lonesome Cowboy, a companion to his earlier Hiropon. Murakami was dissatisfied with the state of contemporary art in Japan, believing it to be 'a deep appropriation of Western trends.' Thus, much of his early work was done in the spirit of social criticism and satire. in Nihonga (1993), he gradually became disillusioned with its insular, highly political world and started to explore more contemporary artistic styles, media, and strategies. He attended Tokyo University of the Arts to acquire the drafting skills necessary to become an animator, but eventually majored in Nihonga, the 'traditional' style of Japanese painting that incorporates traditional Japanese artistic conventions, techniques and subjects. From early on, he was a fan of anime and manga (Japanese cartoons and comics respectively), and hoped to work in the animation industry. Murakami was born and raised in Tokyo, Japan. Artist Takashi Murakami with early work 'Polyrhythm' at Galerie Mars in Tokyo 1992.

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