Murakami has blurred the boundaries of high and low art. His newest exhibition at the Asian Art Museum (AAM) in San Francisco, called “Takashi Murakami: Unfamiliar People – Swelling of Monsterized Human Ego” (Sept. 15-Feb. 12, 2024), demonstrates that his 82-foot, super-detailed, story-telling painting, created especially for this – his first-ever Bay Area exhibition – is consumed alongside the instantly recognizable, multicolor smiling flower motif, which visitors rabidly purchase in many forms (including as a stuffy-style pillow) at the museum gift shop.