Takashi Murakami explains how flowers became crucial elements in his work, "When I was preparing for the entrance exams for the University of Fine Arts, I spent two years drawing flowers. I drew some every day. And the entrance exam in the Nihon-ga section also involved flower drawing. Afterwards, to earn a living, I spent nine years working in a preparatory school, where I taught the students to draw flowers. Once every two days, I would buy flowers for my lesson and make compositions for the students to work on. At the beginning, to be frank, I didn't like flowers, but as I continued teaching in the school, my feelings changed: their smell, their shape - it all made me feel almost physically sick, and at the same time I found them very 'cute'. Each one seems to have its own feelings, its own personality." (Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain, Takashi Murakami, Paris, 2002). Clearly, there was no turning back...

Artist: Takashi Murakami
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Murakami's Flowers will run through November 15, 2010 through Fabrik Contemporary Art in Hong Kong.