Takashi Murakami Talks Painting, Process, and UFOs as He Opens Two Major Exhibitions

Art megastar Takashi Murakami looks exactly as he does in pictures: somehow animated and meditative at once. When we met, he wore a patched-up denim jacket over a puffer vest and highwater fatigue pants, a pair of round eyeglasses perched on his forehead like a halo. His long hair spilled over his shoulders, and as he spoke, he shut his eyes tightly and gestured with his hands—pointing, pinching, gripping the air as if sculpting his words into shape.Earlier this month, Murakami opened his