We have seen the dark spawn of Hello Kitty... and its name is Mr. DOB. Actually, the cartoon creation — sort of a bloated Mickey Mouse, sometimes depicted with two (or sometimes 25) unmatching eyeballs and a mouthful of sharp teeth — was born in the deliciously twisted, shamelessly commercial mind of Japanese artist/pop-culture icon Takashi Murakami. Murakami's characters appeal equally to collectors, who have paid $1 million-plus for his work, to Tokyo schoolchildren, who buy $3 keychains with his designs, to Brooklyn-dwelling hipsters addicted... More >>>