Takashi Murakami Opens Up About Feeling 'Physically and Mentally Exhausted' in Candid Video

Takashi Murakami is speaking out about the impacts of physical and mental exhaustion, two areas of stress that artists, specifically, are often unfairly expected to simply push through.

In a video shared to social media this week, the Superflat artist expressed frustration regarding the high volume of people reaching out to get a studio visit with him in Tokyo. According to Murakami, he predicted this would happen once travel became easier in the wake of lifted pandemic restrictions. However, the recent wave is causing complications when it comes to his creative process.

In fact, per Murakami, this has become an almost daily problem.

"I’m super busy [because of] Brooklyn Museum and the deadline. … I have my life, I have my schedule," he said in the video update, shared earlier this week. "My feeling is, I’m sorry I have no time. This is very uncomfortable for me too."

From there, Murakami said there’s simply been “too many people” in the space, though he did repeatedly apologize to those who have been wanting to visit him as of late.

“My studio is not [an] amusement park,” he said, later breaking down what he considers the typical traits of an artist, let alone one who is 62 years old and must “keep up with my health” while also continuing to work. The artist, he explained, is not usually considered a “good communicator.” 

To further drive home his point, Murakami called himself a “crazy guy,” jokingly pointing to his jarred collections of beard clippings and flakes of skin as an example. These same traits, however, improve the art, though Murakami theorized it leads to artists sometimes being “horrible people.”

In the caption of the video, Murakami said he’s been feeling “physically and mentally exhausted.”

Later, he addressed the reaction to the IG Live-originating video in a separate update, telling fans that he was speaking from the perspective of his “very honest voice" when opening up about exhaustion.

Murakami’s decades of celebrated art has seen his signature creative voice utilized across mediums, with projects spanning from ComplexCon to the cover art for Ye’s 2007 album Graduation. In 2018, he spoke with Karizza Sanchez for Complex about crafting the art for Ye and Kid Cudi's Kids See Ghost project.