Takashi Murakami designs a premium deck of UNO cards

This UNO deck features Takashi Murakami’s signature smiling flower characters

UNO Artiste Series: Murakami cards

UNO has teamed up with Japanese contemporary artist Takashi Murakami for the fifth and latest deck of cards in its premium UNO Artiste Series.

Called UNO Artiste Series: Murakami, the highly collectible deck is Inspired by Murakami’s signature bright and bold colors, as well as his classic smiling flower characters. Bringing his “Superflat” aesthetic to life in a completely new medium, the deck features a wide selection of Murakami’s creations and even marks the first Murakami collaboration piece to include one of his abstract paintings.

UNO Artiste Series: Murakami cards, a collaboration between UNO and Japanese contemporary artist Takashi Murakami

The UNO Artiste Series: Murakami includes a premium card finish and a spot UV treatment on the packaging, bringing Murakami’s most vibrant creations to a new and playable form. The deck also comes with four double-sided “Artiste Extra” cards that piece together to create two different poster-sized art pieces.

UNO Artiste Series: Murakami cards

Where to buy UNO Artiste Series: Murakami

UNO Artiste Series: Murakam cards
UNO Artiste Series: Murakami, a collaboration between UNO and Japanese contemporary artist Takashi Murakami

Priced at $22, the UNO Artiste Series: Murakami will be exclusively available on MattelCreations.com starting on Friday, August 5th, at 12 p.m. ET.

What is UNO Artiste Series?

Launched in 2019 with Jean-Michel Basquait, UNO Artiste Series pays homage to influential artists across decades by infusing art directly into a premium deck. The series expanded in 2020 with decks featuring the art of Keith Haring and Nina Chanel Abney. And most recently in 2021, UNO partnered with artist and illustrator Shepard Fairey.

Who is Takashi Murakami?

Takashi Murakami wackily posing for the camera
Takashi Murakami | Credit: Mattel

An artist and entrepreneur, Murakami is popularly known for his ability to adapt the aesthetics of Japanese traditional art to operate within the context of popular culture. With an emphasis on two-dimensional forms and bold, striking imageries, his style started the artistic movement called Superflat, which glorifies the interaction between the commercial and art worlds.

Inspired primarily by anime and manga, Murakami’s paintings, sculptures, and other artworks feature bright, candy-colored images of cartoon-like characters, with large eyes and exaggerated body parts ― a subtle critique of Japan’s contemporary culture as well as the West’s obtrusive influence upon it.

Murakami achieved celebrity status when Miss Ko2 (pronounced “ko ko”) — his life-size fiberglass sculpture of a large-breasted blonde waitress in a petite uniform — was auctioned in New York City in May 2003 for $567,500; a then-record for a work by a contemporary Japanese artist.

Takashi Murakami
Sources: Britannica
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