Surely you saw Pharrell's music video for "It Girl" when it dropped at the end of September. Although many delighted in the 5-minute clip's references to anime and use of video game graphics, few people know the artists behind the production. Alongside textile designer Fantasista Utamaro, a mysterious Japanese artist who goes by "Mr." contributed to much of the visuals. Now, the latter has opened "Live On: Mr.'s Japanese Neo Pop," his first ever North American museum exhibition at the Seattle Museum of Art's Asian Art Museum.
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After spending 15 years as Takashi Murakami's apprentice, Mr. has made a career off his "anime and video-esque" depictions of "everyday Japanese girls," according to the exhibition's press release. What's more impressive is that Mr. has managed to remove the stigma of creating anime art, taking his works to a major museum.
As New Yorker pointed out in an article on the "It Girl" music video, many people were creeped out by the production's images of prepubescent cartoon girls:
"What are we to make of Pharrell Williams’s latest videofor “It Girl,” which features the hip-hop star singing, “Hold my hand, and moan again, I’ma hold that ass” to images of what appears to be a prepubescent cartoon girl?"
But Mr., who is a self-proclaimed otaku (anime fanatic) with Lolita complex, has said that he is simply "releasing [his] fantasy world through [his] work, instead of acting it out in real life." In fact, his works, though cheerful and "cute" at first glance, are actually rather dark. Give Me Your Wings - think different, a massive installation on view at the museum, for example, alludes to the debris left behind by the March 11, 2011 tsunami and nuclear accident that devastated his home nation.
Mr.'s latest show also provides a look at his career, featuring some of his earlier paintings and drawings, a short film entitled Nobody Dies, and new works too. On view from Nov. 22, 2014 through April 5, 2015, don't miss "Live On: Mr.'s Japanese Neo-Pop."
Here's to hoping Mr. collaborates with Pharrell once more.
