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About the Work
Takashi Murakami’s “Mr. DOB” portraits date back to the beginning of the artist’s career when the artist was looking for an iconic, easily recognizable, self-portrait – a way to brand himself. Like a logo, the letter ‘D’ appears in the character’s left ear, the letter ‘B’ in the right ear, and ‘O’ is formed by the character’s face. Though the overall image is reminiscent of Mickey Mouse, all of Murakami’s elements are traditionally Japanese – anime characters like Doraemon and Sonic the Hedgehog and the letters DOB are thought to be a contraction of “Dobojite dobojite” (why? why?), a catchphrase of Japanese comedian Toru Yuri.
And Then x 727 (Vermillion: SHU) is a 19.5 x 19.5 – inch hand signed offset lithograph on paper created in 2013.
About the Artist
Takashi Murakami was born in Tokyo, Japan on February 1, 1962. His influence for art derives from his mother, who studied needlepoint and designed textiles. Murakami knew he wanted to be an artist when he grew up, and had always taken a large interest in animation and comics. He studied art throughout much of his adolescence, and applied to study at Tokyo National University. He was accepted and later received his Ph.D. in Fine Arts and Music, in which he learned “Nihong”, or traditional Japanese painting. After his studies, Murakami moved to New York in 1994 and was exposed to, and inspired by, Western contemporary artists like Jeff Koons.