727 1996

This triptych, called 727, was made by Takashi Murakami. The surface is stained with washes of purple and beige, scrubbed, and sanded—I can almost feel the artist’s hand at work, rubbing back and forth, building up layers. I love to think of the painting as a place for the artist to work through ideas. What was Murakami thinking when he set out to create this work? Perhaps, like all of us, he was trying to make sense of the world around him. The contrast between the dreamy abstract background and the nightmarish figure floating in the center is unnerving. That white line, curling around the image like a wave, is also the flat graphic of a cartoon. It makes me think about the Pop artists from the 1960s. They also embraced popular imagery, but Murakami brings something darker, something more psychologically complex. He’s definitely in conversation with artists of the past but, like all artists, he’s finding his own way. I think that this is what makes art so interesting.