Chairmen of the Boards

Two Japanese artists hit the decks for Supreme

September 20, 2007—For those who've always found Japanese cartoons insufficiently creepy, there's artist "Mr.," whose anime-tweaking portraits of pubescent teens baring their underwear have naturally made him an art world darling. (He sold out a show this spring at NYC's hip Lehmann Maupin Gallery.) The artist's latest project? A trio of skateboard decks on sale today at New York sneaker emporium Supreme. The example at left, based on a work called "Fund-raising for the heart—Maid café," is the only one we really feel comfortable displaying, but fear not: Only the underside of each deck bears the art, a handy detail for when the mother-in-law's in town. (After all, she may not buy your explanation that what's really going on is a critique of the genre's unsubtle and inappropriate sexualization of its subjects.)

Also on sale: A trio of decks by longtime Mr. mentor Takashi Murakami. As the image on the right indicates, they may be a bit more kid-appropriate. And it turns out that Murakami, who also did the artwork for Kanye West's Graduation, is having a big fall. Starting Oct. 29, L.A.'s MOCA is putting on ©Murakami, which, with more than 90 works, will be the artist's most extensive retrospective to date. Its most controversial inclusion: a pop-up shop from longtime Murakami patron Louis Vuitton, planted mid-gallery. Controversy, obviously, comes in many forms.

Takashi Murakami/Mr. skateboard decks, $78 each, available from Supreme, 274 Lafayette St., NYC, (212) 966-7799; 439 North Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles, (323) 655-6205, supremenewyork.com; ©Murakami, Oct. 29–Feb. 11, The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, 152 North Central Ave., Los Angeles, (213) 626-6222, moca.org