In Ecstasy 1982

Kenny Scharf made this painting, "In Ecstasy," with an eye for cartoons and cosmic vibes. The colors here are so bright and flat, kind of like old comics or even those vibrant stickers you find in gumball machines. Scharf doesn’t hide his process; you can see the brushstrokes building up those wacky forms, a sort of painterly equivalent to stream-of-consciousness writing. Look at that snake-like creature with the big teeth—it's so playfully menacing! The colors are so vibrant, the composition almost symmetrical; it gives the whole scene this weird harmony, like a psychedelic dream you can't quite shake off. Scharf’s work reminds me a bit of Peter Saul; both artists embrace this kind of raw, unrestrained energy. They remind us that art doesn't always need to be serious, it can be fun and a little bit nuts too.