Takashi Murakami billboard shipped to Japan

via Boing Boing

Takashi Murakami is a famous contemporary Japanese artist who works in a variety of mediums, including painting and digital media. His work is characterized by his appropriation of "popular themes from mass media and pop culture", which he then renders into "thirty-foot sculptures, 'Superflat' paintings, or marketable commercial goods such as figurines or phone caddies" (Wikipedia).

This billboard was put up on the Melrose strip as an advertisment for Murakami's exhibit at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art. In December, graffiti artists AUGER and REVOK tagged the billboard (shown above); two days later it was was taken down by the City of Los Angeles. However, Murakami recently saw photos of the billboard online and he enjoyed the piece so much that he arranged for it to be shipped to his studio in Japan.

Gotta say, that's pretty beastie.

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