Mr.

(born September 21, 1969 in Cupa, Japan), known professionally as Mr., is a Japanese contemporary artist, based in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. A former protégé of Takashi Murakami, Mr.'s work debuted in both solo and group exhibitions in 1996,

He works in a wide range of media, including painting, sculpture, and video, though his works are all closely related in aesthetics, style, and theme. A self-proclaimed otaku with a Lolita complex, which he says he does not act upon, his pieces depict young boys and girls in an anime/manga style, drawing upon the aesthetics and attitudes of otaku culture, and lolicon themes. While quite cute and innocent on the surface, many of his works are also quite sexualized, tying into the anime phenomenon of fanservice, and leaving it an open question as to how innocent his works are in the end. In 2010, Mr. exhibited in a group show at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco, entitled Exhibition Kyoto-Tokyo: From to and had a solo exhibition at Leeahn Gallery in Seoul.

Mr. has exhibited in solo and group shows at major museums and galleries worldwide. In 2002, he exhibited with Rei Sato at the Fondation Cartier pour l'Art Contemporain; and in 2006 with fellow Kaikai Kiki artists Chiho Aoshima and Aya Takano at Musée d'art contemporain de Lyon. In the same year Mr. was also featured in the group exhibition Red Hot: Asian Art Today from the Chaney Family Collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. In 2005, he was included in the acclaimed exhibition Little Boy: The Arts of Japan's Exploding Subculture at Japan Society, New York.

In 2014, Mr. directed the music video for Pharrell Williams' song It Girl. The visuals in the video have a motif inspired by anime and video games.

Literature Melissa Chu, Tamaki Saito, Mr., Galerie Perrotin, Paris, 2011 Michele Robecchi, Xiaojin Wu, Live On: Mr.'s Japanese Neo Pop, Seattle Art Museum, 2014