Takashi Murakami: TMKK Character Skateboard Deck
Artwork © 2018 Takashi Murakami/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. All rights reserved
This screenprinted skateboard deck by Takashi Murakami features variations on the artist’s Kaikai and Kiki cartoon characters emerging from a multicolored bed of his distinctive smiling flowers. Kaikai and Kiki were inspired by anime and manga and first appeared in Murakami’s artwork in 2000. They have a kawaii (cute) aesthetic, with round eyes, wide grins, and prominent ears, and encapsulate the coexistence of strangeness and refinement, boldness and delicacy. The characters’ names are based on the term kaikaikiki, which was used in the late sixteenth century to describe the work of the painter Eitoku Kanô. Kaikai Kiki is also the name of Murakami’s studio outside of Tokyo.
The decks are intended for decorative purposes, but can be assembled into functioning skateboards.
Producer: Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd.
Year: 2018
Material: Screen print on wood
Dimensions: 31 1/2 × 8 1/4 inches (80 × 21 cm)
