Takashi Murakami's 'kawaii' art reflects human yearning for religion

An installation view of the 'Takashi Murakami: MurakamiZombie' exhibition at the Busan Museum of Art in Busan, South Korea. Photo: Takashi Murakami/Perrotin)

Japanese leading contemporary artist Takashi Murakami showed up in South Korea’s southern port city of Busan for his first exhibition in the country in 10 years. Inspired by Japan’s “otaku” subculture, his art may look bright and “kawaii,” cute in Japanese, at first glance. However, its content is more profound than what first meets the eye.

Otaku is a Japanese word that refers to people with an obsessive interest in particular subjects such as animation, manga or games. Murakami is known for bringing the Japanese subculture to the global art scene, blurring the boundary of high and low art.