Thank You for the Wonderful Destiny 2021

Takashi Murakami made this explosion of smiling flowers, titled 'Thank You for the Wonderful Destiny,' and it's like pure joy shot through a rainbow. You can see how art-making can be a real process in this work. Up close, it's a wild garden, each flower a tiny universe of bright colours. There's a real sense of texture in the layering of colours, some transparent, some opaque. It's like he's not trying to hide the gesture, the process. Take a look at the single rainbow flower in the centre, the way the colours seem to bleed into one another. It’s not perfect, and that’s the point. Murakami is playing with Andy Warhol’s Pop Art sensibilities while adding his own twist of Japanese manga and anime culture. It is a reminder that art doesn’t have to be so serious. It can be ambiguous, joyful, and a bit chaotic, all at once.