Homage to Francis Bacon 2018

Takashi Murakami’s ‘Homage to Francis Bacon’ confronts us with a figure whose face dissolves into a kaleidoscope of shapes and colors. The gaping mouth, a motif we see echoed in Bacon's distorted portraits, speaks volumes of anguish. Consider the scream, an age-old symbol of human pain. From the Laocoön group in antiquity, with its writhing figures ensnared by serpents, to Edvard Munch's modern angst, the open mouth signifies a soul in torment. Here, Murakami amplifies this with a distinctly Japanese twist, merging it with the pop aesthetics of anime. This confluence transcends mere imitation; it taps into the collective memory of suffering, refashioning it for a new era. The figure’s distorted face, fragmented and reassembled, echoes the psychological fragmentation brought about by trauma, engaging viewers on a profound, subconscious level. The scream endures, finding new forms, and reflecting the ceaseless cycle of human experience.