Tomorrow, Takashi Murakami (the world’s 6th richest living artist) opens his latest blockbuster exhibit at the Al Riwaq Exhibition Hall in Doha, Qatar. Marking his first show in the Middle East, Murakami is not only showcasing a vast collection of previous releases, but is also unveiling a host of new work.

According to the press release, “for this presentation, Murakami has conceived of the exhibition itself as a work of art, creating new modes of display that include sculptural pedestals with digital animation, a circus tent that doubles as an indoor cinema, and a new 100-meter-long painting that wraps around the exhibition space. Most spectacularly, the artist will depict himself as a larger than life inflatable creature, greeting visitors at the entrance of the exhibition, turning the show into a giant self-portrait, in which Murakami appears as a character in his own typically supernatural world.”

The Murakami Ego exhibition opens tomorrow and runs until June 24, 2012.

More images follow after the click.

Here above you see a print that artist David Choe produced for Howard Stern. It will go on sale soon with all proceeds going to charity. Now let’s get to the real news though. After the news came out that David Choe was paid in Facebook stock in 2005, for painting murals at the then startup’s office, and with the upcoming Facebook IPO around the corner, everybody was of course eager to hear what the artist had to say when coming on Howard Stern’s radio show yesterday. Some interesting things about the 4th richest living artist came out in the lengthy interview.

Listen to all the sequences here below.

More after the jump.

Time Magazine sits down with Damien Hirst. They talk about his spot paintings and why he wanted to put them in so many galleries at the same time, the meaning behind the spots, his diamond encrusted skull and his worth, which seems to be a little lower than in this recent listing of the richest living artists. Enjoy!

The Qatar Museums Authority goes behind the scenes with Takashi Murakami as he and his Kaikai Kiki team prepare to launch his first exhibition in the Middle East. The “EGO” Exhibition by Takashi Murakami opens February 9, 2012 at the Al-Riwaq Exhibition Centre, Qatar.

Last week we reported about David Choe being paid in 2005 in stock by Facebook, for painting murals in their offices. That stock might become worth 200 Million USD, after Facebook’s IPO and official stock market listing. Complex took a look at the richest living artists, and it is interesting to see where Choe ranks in there now.

Here is the complete list:

1. Damien Hirst – 1 Billion USD
2. Jeff Koons – 500 Million USD
3. Jasper Johns – 300 Million USD
4. David Choe – 200 Million USD
5. Andre Vicari – 142 Million USD
6. Takashi Murakami – 100 Million USD
7. Anish Kapoor – 85 Million USD
8. Antony Gormley – 50 Million USD
9. Gerhard Richter – 40 Million USD
10. David Hockney – 40 Million USD
11. Cindy Sherman – 35 Million USD
12. Richard Prince – 30 Million USD
13. Andreas Gursky – 30 Million USD
14. Chuck Close – 25 Million USD
15. Georg Baselitz – 25 Million USD

For background on each one of the artists, check the full article over at Complex.

Last year, French artist JR made the city of Los Angeles into a canvas for this large-scale photos. This video features interviews and insights from the people that were photographed for the project. In case you missed it, here’s your chance to see some of the works.

In 2005 artist David Choe, whom we often report about here on Highsnobiety, was asked by Facebook to paint their headquarters at the time. With the filing for IPO by Facebook, it turns out that painting the offices of the then Internet start-up, will make him one of the richest living artists one day.

This week Facebook announced that they will be going public in the near future. Along with the filing, they had to reveal the current ownership state of the company. In 2005 David Choe chose to be paid in stock rather than cash and it looks like that stock will be worth 200 Million USD, if Facebook will be valued on the open stock market at the estimated 100 Billion Dollar mark.

“In 2005, Mr. Choe was invited to paint murals on the walls of Facebook’s first offices in Palo Alto, Calif., by Sean Parker, then Facebook’s president. As pay, Mr. Parker offered Mr. Choe a choice between cash in the “thousands of dollars,” according to several people who know Mr. Choe, or stock then worth about the same.

Mr. Choe, who has said that at the time that he thought the idea of Facebook was “ridiculous and pointless,” nevertheless chose the stock.

Many “advisers” to the company at that time, which is how Mr. Choe would have been classified, would have received about 0.1 to 0.25 percent of the company, according to a former Facebook employee. That may sound like a paltry amount, but a stake that size is worth hundreds of millions of dollars, based on a market value of $100 billion. Mr. Choe’s payment is valued at roughly $200 million, according to a number of people who know Mr. Choe and Facebook executives.”

You can read the full New York Times article on what happened here.

Okay, so this video for Die Antwoord’s ‘I Fink U Freeky’ is pretty mind-blowing. The duo got together with the amazing Roger Ballen and the end result is a brilliant intersection of music and art. This is a must watch whether your’re a fan of the group or not.

Known for his colorful art and characters, Japanese artist Takashi Murakami is on to his next project. He is currently producing a children’s monster movie, entitled Jellyfish Eyes.

“Using a cast of unknown actors and putting the film’s sizable budget almost entirely into special effects, the artist has managed to create big-screen incarnations of his ravenous, curious creatures that maintain astonishing fidelity to their canvas versions. But like “Godzilla,” which was born from the nuclear terror of Hiroshima and Nagasaki’s aftermath, Murakami’s film arises from a disaster: the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami that rent his country asunder, killing thousands and displacing countless more (see Part 1 of our video interview with the artist, where he talks about his charity auction benefiting the earthquake victims).

Titled “Jellyfish Eyes,” the movie follows a young boy who after an earthquake has to move with his family to an “experimental city” where each child is paired with a small monster. The “angry feeling” of the children then gives these creatures great power, allowing them to grow from cuddly little companions to giant, omnivorous behemoths that tower over buildings and, in one especially gorgeous scene, tromp majestically through a misty forest. Havoc ensues.”

Check out the video interview by ArtInfo about the upcoming film here below.

Murakami hopes to release the film later this year.

Artist Bruce Lowell has taken a unique approach to LEGO sculptures with these everyday items he has created. We’ve seen a lot of great LEGO related stories here, and this is another cool addition. Lowell creates some items such as tacos, a donut, a garbage can filled recyclable bottles, and other neat little creations.

Take a look at Bruce Lowell’s work after the jump.