The Double Helix 2002

Takashi Murakami made The Double Helix with flat bright acrylic paint, and I can only imagine it was a wild ride. The surface is so smooth, it's like a cartoon trying to be serious, or maybe the other way around? I think he was thinking about how cute can also be kind of disturbing, like those smiles that are way too big. There are dark teeth, and melting colours that have some weight, it's not just fluff. That dripping effect is interesting, it reminds me of Helen Frankenthaler but also like street art, how everything merges together. It also kind of reminds me of Elizabeth Murray's shaped canvases, everything bursting out, becoming something else. That merging of high and low culture is something he has in common with a lot of contemporary artists, like maybe Jeff Koons. It all adds to an ongoing conversation, inspiring and shifting, taking painting to new unexpected territories.