Superflat! A Lesson Based on Takashi Murakami and His Work

Murakami Flowers 

I recently went to Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art, and I noticed they are preparing for an upcoming exhibit of art by Takashi Murakami.  I fell in love with his art when I was in college, and I hadn't seen any exhibits of his work lately.  I thought it would be fun to teach the middle school students about him and to encourage them to go see the exhibit this summer.  We learned about his style, known as superflat, which is inspired by manga and anime.  We looked at three recurring images in his work:  Mr. DOB, smiling flowers and "jellyfish eyes".  We talked about how he merged two sides of his culture and also made his work his own expression.  I had them use plastic sheets to make the work shiny.  They drew sketches on paper, choosing to either imitate Murakami or to create their own unique characters, and then traced with sharpie onto plastic.  They painted on the back with craft paint.  I like how they turned out.  They are really colorful.  I hope some of them feel inspired to go to the MCA!

Some Middle School Work

The third grade classes screened Jellyfish Eyes, Murakami's film about kids coming together to combat negative energy with a collection of animated F.R.I.E.N.D.S.  They created wax resist patterns in the style of the artist and some fun clay mini-sculptures.