Time Door Time D'Or 1989

James Rosenquist made this dreamy image, Time Door Time D'Or, with offset lithography. It’s all dark and light, with these big blooming shapes in shades of red and pink floating on a black ground. It feels like stumbling into a lush, strange garden at night. I can imagine Rosenquist in his studio, layering image upon image, maybe cutting and pasting, figuring out how to make these contrasting forms cohere. Look at how the petals seem to unfurl, mixing the organic with these hard-edged rectangular forms. It reminds me a bit of early Warhol, but wilder, more psychedelic. The way he combines recognizable shapes with abstract gestures makes you see both in a new light. What is that door? Is it a portal? Ultimately, painting is about opening up possibilities rather than closing them down. Rosenquist, like all great painters, invites us to bring our own experiences to the canvas, creating a space where meaning is always in flux, always becoming.