New day; Kaikai and Kiki, Faces All-Over 2011

Takashi Murakami made *New day; Kaikai and Kiki, Faces All-Over* with I’m guessing acrylic paint and maybe some silkscreening, but who knows?! Just look at this explosion of cartoon faces and flowers. It feels like a world being born, or maybe a garden after a rave? I can imagine Murakami, brush in hand, getting lost in the repetition, almost in a trance, letting these characters bloom across the canvas. I wonder, is he laughing while he paints? The surface is so flat and smooth, which makes the wildness of the imagery even more surprising. It reminds me of Hokusai's *Great Wave,* but with kawaii cuteness instead of ominous power. There’s a conversation going on here: Murakami is playing with pop art, manga, and traditional Japanese art, remixing them into something totally new. He invites us to find our own stories in this field of endless possibility, where every face has something to say.