When I Close My Eyes, I See Shangri-la 2012

Takashi Murakami made this delirious field of flowers and smiley faces, maybe seeing that imagined paradise just behind his eyelids. I can imagine him thinking about Warhol’s flowers while making this, but instead of flat color fields, there are all these tiny details and variations. Look closely and you’ll see the surfaces have all kinds of subtle shifts and textures. It’s a dance of precision and play, kind of obsessive but also joyful. Each flower has its own little world of color combinations, expressions, like a crowd of individual personalities. The density of it all feels very contemporary, like scrolling through an endless feed. But I think the handmade quality and layering of references, from traditional Japanese art to anime and Pop Art, complicate any easy read of it. Artists are always riffing off each other, borrowing and remixing ideas, and Murakami is clearly plugged into that long, ongoing conversation.