{"id":29735,"date":"2026-06-03T00:55:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T00:55:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/29735\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T00:55:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T00:55:08","slug":"superflats-25-year-journey-from-tokyo-to-louis-vuitton-and-labubu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/29735\/","title":{"rendered":"Superflat\u2019s 25-year journey from Tokyo to Louis Vuitton and Labubu"},"content":{"rendered":"

You might not know the name, but you\u2019d recognise the visual hallmarks of Superflat art. The movement debuted in 2000, and over a quarter of a century it has evolved and left its mark on so many cultural touchpoints that it\u2019s now firmly embedded in the zeitgeist. But what exactly is Superflat and how did it go from being championed by one single artist to celebrities adorning their Birkins<\/a> with a certain monster-like toy?<\/p>\n

\u201cSuperflat is a contemporary hybrid form of artistic representation which draws inspiration from the two-dimensionality seen in the traditional \u2018Nihonga\u2019 style and from Japanese pop cultural elements like manga, anime and the larger otaku subculture,\u201d says Danielle So, Hong Kong head of auctions, modern and contemporary art at Phillips. \u201cIt\u2019s also often seen as a comment on the media, entertainment and consumption that\u2019s abundant in Japanese culture.\u201d<\/p>\n

Visually, Superflat is characterised by bold, cartoonlike outlines, flat panes of colour and little natural perspective or depth. The movement originated from Takashi Murakami<\/a>\u2019s 2000 exhibition in Tokyo. He used the term in the exhibition catalogue, explaining that it captured several ethereal concepts he\u2019d previously been unable to put into words.\"FlowerFlower Parent and Child by Takashi Murakami. Photo: Phillips<\/p>\n

\u201cMurakami, of course, was the progenitor [of Superflat] with the creation of a strange, imaginary world of iconic characters, including his smiling, psychedelic Mr DOB, Kaikai Kiki, and his army of enchanted mushrooms, eyes and flowers,\u201d adds So. \u201cMurakami argued that a distinct \u2018flat\u2019 aesthetic \u2013 devoid of Western-style perspective and depth \u2013 permeated all levels of Japanese visual culture \u2026 as an attempt to expose the shallow emptiness of Japanese consumer culture.\u201d However, So adds that other Japanese artists have contributed to the movement\u2019s popularity, including Yoshitomo Nara, Aya Takano and Chiho Aoshima.<\/p>\n

But Superflat isn\u2019t the first art movement to offer commercial commentary and use these visual cues. Experts point to the similarities Superflat shares with the pop art movement popularised by artists like Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein in the 1960s. \u201cPop art was born as a response to post-war affluence and the advertising born in the US, while Superflat was an exploration of how the Japanese retreated into fantasy after World War II (with the atomic bombs and defeat) and the subsequent economic bubble,\u201d So continues.<\/p>\n

\"AA Juju collectible from Cj Hendry. Photo: PhillipsOver the years, Murakami has brought his distinct artistic style to numerous brand and celebrity collaborations \u2013 including Louis Vuitton<\/a>, Google, Casetify, Kanye West and Pharrell Williams<\/a> \u2013 allowing the Superflat movement to transcend the traditional paintings and sculptures it\u2019s readily represented in, and permeate other creative fields including film, fashion and product design.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"You might not know the name, but you\u2019d recognise the visual hallmarks of Superflat art. The movement debuted…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":29736,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12704],"tags":[14426,21531,21530,3527,21534,21536,21533,21537,20113,3528,21535,3376,21532,6781,21538,2773,4955],"class_list":["post-29735","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-louis-vuitton","tag-andy-warhol","tag-art-basel","tag-aya-takano","tag-beijing","tag-blackpinks-lisa","tag-central-harbourfront","tag-chiho-aoshima","tag-cj-hendry","tag-google","tag-hong-kong","tag-kaikai-kiki","tag-kanye-west","tag-kasing-lung","tag-kim-kardashian","tag-labubu","tag-louis-vuitton","tag-lvmh"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29735"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29735\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}