This book was published on the occasion of Takashi Murakami: An Arrow through History at Gagosian, New York. The expansive exhibition presented three new bodies of work that bridge the digital and physical realms: paintings and sculptures of digital avatars from the Clone X NFTs, developed in collaboration with RTFKT Studios; paintings of pixelated flowers related to the Murakami.Flowers NFT project; and shaped canvases painted with fish motifs inspired by Chinese Yuan dynasty ceramics.

The exhibited artworks are represented in full-color plates, installation photography, and behind-the-scenes studio shots. Readers can also activate four custom Snapchat Lenses accessed via Snapcodes to view augmented-reality animations that bring Murakami’s imagery to life. The unique catalogue design features a die-cut tip-on of Murakami’s iconic pixelated flower on the cover and edge printing on the book block. Each copy of the book also comes with a limited-edition trading card designed by the artist.

Texts include “Collectible Culture: On NFTs, Sneakers, and Art,” a conversation between Daniel Bailey, Elizabeth Semmelhack, and Ashley Overbeek examining the urge to collect through the lenses of sneaker culture and NFTs, as well as an essay by Amy Whitaker discussing Murakami’s reimagination of the “white cube” gallery space and the metaverse. Murakami contributes a personal essay, “Why I Paint Fish,” and also discusses the collaborative process, the necessity of cognitive revolution, and the future of art in a conversation with RTFKT and Wyatt Allgeier.