An installation view of “Mr: It Was a Great Day” at Perotin, Los Angeles. (Photo: Paul Salveson)
When he was a 25-year-old student at a Japanese vocational school, Mr. Mr. first met Murakami Takahashi, the well-known artist behind the Superflat movement. For years, the artist worked with Murakami at his kaikai kiki studio, and in doing so developed practices that were similarly inspired by Kawaii, Otaku and Anime Culture. Now, Perotin’s new exhibition at its Los Angeles location mines Mr.’s own interpretation of the superflat aesthetic.
Open until March 29th, 2025 It was a great day He was Mr., who was the first solo exhibition in Los Angeles, and his ninth time at the gallery. Throughout, the exhibition presents the dissonance of colors, characters and moods that represent his work. Some paintings recall the organized confusion of covers of Japanese pop culture magazines, while others depict cheerful girls with dyed hair and flashing signs of peace. One gallery hall is dedicated to an installation based on the artist’s studio in Seida, Japan, and explodes into seams with memorials, drawings and monumental cutouts.
Of course, these works demonstrate his preference for raucous compositions informed by vibrancy, decadence, femininity and pop culture. But they also get a glimpse into Mr.’s own relationship with clutter and consumerism. For artists, these themes defined Japan in the 1980s and 1990s, as mass consumer culture was increasingly spread across the country. It was during this period that anime, manga, and especially cute characters and products became particularly prominent. It was a great day.
Let’s gather at the parkfor example, features a young girl adorned with trinkets fixed to her hair, fixed to her hair from a bow and Rubik’s cube pin solar It’s stuffed in her pocket. Behind her are two more girls, with stickers and Bandaide painted in the same way. The shaped paintings are compelling juxtaposition and illustrative precision to the clutter of products and toys, their clean lines. In a statement from the gallery’s exhibition, Ryan Holmberg suggests that this is the result of his appeal to garbage.
“My room is confused. I accumulate trash,” she told Melissa Chiu in a 2011 interview. “It’s dirty and probably an extension of my personality. These things are also sources of my creation.”
Each painting contrasts with innocence and excess, order and chaos, and proves that the movements of the superflat are more than just cuteness and an uplift in pop culture. It also concerns consumption, obsessions, and overdose.
“Mr.’s work often exists at the fork between these two branches of complementary vectors: a decadent dissonance between superflat height pop culture and urban consumer culture and subculture,” writes Holmberg.
The whole thing is being photographed, It was a great day Both the buoyancy and complex meditation of super flat art. The exhibition is currently on display in Perotin Los Angeles, and you can find more information on the Perotin website.
Inspired by the super flat movement founded by Murakami Takahashi, Mr. : It was a great day It is currently on display in Perotin Los Angeles.
“Searching for a map for the future” 2025. ©2025 Mr. / Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd.
“The boy’s dream of flying through the sky” 2025. Acrylic, silkscreen print, pen on paper. ©2025 Mr. / Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd.
An installation view of “Mr: It Was a Great Day” at Perotin, Los Angeles. (Photo: Paul Salveson)
The exhibition highlights themes of consumption and mess, exploring his relationship with cuteness, anime, manga and otaku culture.
“Untitled” 2025. Acrylic paint and silkscreen print on canvas. ©2025 Mr. / Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd.
“Let’s gather in the park” 2025. Canvas acrylic attached to wood panels. ©2025 Mr. / Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd.
An installation view of “Mr: It Was a Great Day” at Perotin, Los Angeles. (Photo: Paul Salveson)
“Blue Promise” 2025. Acrylic, silkscreen print, pen on paper. ©2025 Mr. / Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd.
An installation view of “Mr: It Was a Great Day” at Perotin, Los Angeles. (Photo: Paul Salveson)
It was a great day It was his first solo exhibition in Los Angeles, his ninth time with Perotin, and will be on display until March 29, 2025.
An installation view of “Mr: It Was a Great Day” at Perotin, Los Angeles. (Photo: Paul Salveson)
“Untitled” 2025. Acrylic paint and silkscreen print on canvas. ©2025 Mr. / Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd.
An installation view of “Mr: It Was a Great Day” at Perotin, Los Angeles. (Photo: Paul Salveson)
