Takashi Murakami’s path to prominence had a humble beginning. “I was a high school senior, and the guidance teacher told me that I didn’t have enough academic ability to go to any university. In despair, I figured I might be able to go to a university if I could draw, even if I wasn't bright. The moment I told my parents that I was going to a prep school for an art university was the first time I realized I was to be an artist.”

Today, he’s recognized as one of our most important contemporary artists. His Superflat theory “clarified the difference between the three-dimensional spatial representation in the West and the two-dimensional representation in Asia,” he says. “I think the fact that the arrangements of colors, based on the Superflat theory, can create a sense of space unique to painting.”