Installation view of “Mr.: It Was on a Brilliant Day,” at Perrotin, Los Angeles. (Photo: Paul Salveson)
When he was a 25-year-old student in a specialization school in Japan, Mr. first encountered Takashi Murakami, the renowned artist behind the superflat movement. For years, the artist worked with Murakami in his Kaikai Kiki studio and, in so doing, developed a practice similarly inspired by kawaii, otaku, and anime culture. Now, a new exhibition at Perrotin’s Los Angeles location mines Mr.’s own interpretation of the superflat aesthetic.
Open until March 29, 2025, It Was on a Brilliant Day serves as Mr.’s first solo exhibition in LA, and his ninth with the gallery. Throughout, the exhibition showcases the cacophony of colors, characters, and moods that epitomize Mr.’s work. Some paintings recall the organized chaos of Japanese pop culture magazine covers, while others depict bubbly girls sporting dyed hair and flashing peace signs. One gallery hall is even dedicated to an installation based on the artist’s studio in Saitama, Japan, bursting at the seams with memorabilia, drawings, and monumental cut-outs.
These works are, of course, indicative of Mr.’s preference for noisy compositions, all informed by vibrancy, decadence, femininity, and pop culture. But they’re also glimpses into Mr.’s own relationship with clutter and consumerism. For the artist, these themes defined Japan during the 1980s and '90s as mass consumer culture increasingly spread across the country. It was during this time that anime, manga, and especially kawaii characters and products gained particular prominence, a phenomenon reflected in It Was on a Brilliant Day.
Let’s Gather At the Park, for example, features a young girl adorned with trinkets, ranging from bows and Rubik’s cube pins fastened in her hair to a taiyaki stuffed in her pocket. Behind her are two more girls, equally plastered with stickers and bandaids. The shaped painting is a jumble of products and toys, a compelling juxtaposition to its clean lines and illustrative precision. In the gallery’s exhibition statement, Ryan Holmberg suggests that this is a result of Mr.’s own fascination with garbage.
“My room is a mess. I accumulate garbage,” Mr. told Melissa Chiu in a 2011 interview. “It is dirty, and it is perhaps an extension of my personality. These things also become the source of my creation.”
Each painting contrasts innocence and excess, order and chaos, proving that the superflat movement is about more than simply cuteness and elevating pop culture. It also concerns consumption, obsessiveness, and overindulgence.
“Mr.’s work often exists at the juncture between those two divergent but complementary vectors: the elevated pop culture of superflat and the decadent cacophony of urban consumer culture and subcultures,” Holmberg writes.
Taken in its entirety, It Was on a Brilliant Day is both a buoyant and complex meditation on superflat art. The exhibition is currently on view at Perrotin Los Angeles, and more information can be found on Perrotin’s website.
Inspired by the superflat movement, founded by Takashi Murakami, Mr.: It Was on a Brilliant Day is currently on view at Perrotin Los Angeles.
“In Search of the Map to the Future,” 2025. © 2025 Mr. / Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd.
“The Boy's Dream Flew Through the Sky,” 2025. Acrylic, silkscreen print, pen on paper. © 2025 Mr. / Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd.
Installation view of “Mr.: It Was on a Brilliant Day,” at Perrotin, Los Angeles. (Photo: Paul Salveson)
The exhibition explores Mr.’s relationship with kawaii, anime, manga, and otaku culture, while also highlighting themes of consumption and clutter.
“Untitled,” 2025. Acrylic paint and silkscreen print on canvas. © 2025 Mr. / Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd.
“Let's Gather At the Park,” 2025. Acrylic on canvas mounted on wood panel. © 2025 Mr. / Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd.
Installation view of “Mr.: It Was on a Brilliant Day,” at Perrotin, Los Angeles. (Photo: Paul Salveson)
“Blue Promise,” 2025. Acrylic, silkscreen print, pen on paper. © 2025 Mr. / Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd.
Installation view of “Mr.: It Was On a Brilliant Day,” at Perrotin, Los Angeles. (Photo: Paul Salveson)
It Was on a Brilliant Day is Mr.’s first solo exhibition in Los Angeles, his ninth with Perrotin, and is on view until March 29, 2025.
Installation view of “Mr.: It Was On a Brilliant Day,” at Perrotin, Los Angeles. (Photo: Paul Salveson)
“Untitled,” 2025. Acrylic paint and silkscreen print on canvas. © 2025 Mr. / Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd.
Installation view of “Mr.: It Was on a Brilliant Day,” at Perrotin, Los Angeles. (Photo: Paul Salveson)
