Artwork Description
Jellyfish Eyes Black 1 Lithograph Print by Takashi Murakami TM/KK Hand-Pulled Print on Wove Fine Art Paper Limited Edition Graffiti Street Pop Artwork.
2004 Signed & Numbered Limited Edition of 300 Artwork Size 19.75x19.75
Jellyfish Eyes Black 1 by Takashi Murakami – A Psychedelic Icon of Street Pop Art & Graffiti Artwork
Jellyfish Eyes Black 1 is a 2004 signed and numbered limited edition lithograph by renowned Japanese contemporary artist Takashi Murakami, measuring 19.75 x 19.75 inches. Issued in an edition of 300, the print features a cluster of floating, stylized eyes with jellyfish-like appendages, hovering across a black background with vibrant, pulsating color. The concentric orbs and whimsical lashes form an enigmatic composition that is both playful and surreal, drawing viewers into Murakami’s immersive visual universe. This work exemplifies Murakami’s ability to merge traditional Japanese aesthetics with global pop culture, injecting high-energy iconography into the realms of Street Pop Art & Graffiti Artwork.
Neo-Pop Formalism Meets Subcultural Visual Language
The hypnotic design of Jellyfish Eyes Black 1 showcases Murakami’s deep engagement with visual repetition and pop surrealism. Each eye radiates concentric bands of neon pink, electric blue, acid green, and gold—colors more commonly associated with commercial animation, toy design, and graffiti murals than traditional lithography. The black background intensifies the floating sensation of these biomorphic forms, transforming the space into a dreamlike field of suspended consciousness. Murakami’s roots in Nihonga painting and Edo-period compositions are evident in the fluid arrangement and balance, while the synthetic palette and digital smoothness embrace the commercialized intensity of pop iconography. In Street Pop Art & Graffiti Artwork, this blend of classical order with radical form asserts Murakami’s place as both historian and provocateur.
Eyes, Surveillance, and the Otaku Psyche
The eyes that populate Jellyfish Eyes Black 1 are not passive. They gaze back with unsettling presence, creating a dynamic tension between observer and observed. The motif reflects Murakami’s frequent exploration of otaku culture, surveillance capitalism, and the consumer gaze. These eyes are playful, even cute, but also obsessive, invasive, and endlessly watching. Some appear innocent; others twitch with layered concentric pupils and pupil-like satellites. This multiplicity mirrors the fragmentation of identity in digital and urban life. As seen across the broader scope of Street Pop Art & Graffiti Artwork, these eyes function as pop sigils—icons that entertain, disturb, and invite deeper inspection.
Takashi Murakami and the Legacy of Superflat in Street Art
Takashi Murakami’s impact on both fine art and street culture cannot be overstated. Through his Superflat theory, he developed a framework for collapsing the boundaries between high and low, ancient and hyper-modern, traditional painting and graffiti-inspired visual immediacy. Jellyfish Eyes Black 1 exists within that lineage as a work that is collectible, cultural, and subversively simple. The lithograph form nods to limited edition printmaking history while its aesthetic remains grounded in the saturated language of mass media and youth culture. As Street Pop Art & Graffiti Artwork continues to evolve globally, Murakami’s work offers a lens into how Japanese visual codes, anime motifs, and psychedelic surface treatments can coexist with the raw expressiveness of street-born art forms. Jellyfish Eyes Black 1 does not demand translation—it simply stares back, glowing in the dark, inviting you to feel.
