Panda Family 2016

Takashi Murakami made this image, Panda Family, in his signature superflat style, combining high and low art with Japanese pop culture. I’m thinking about how Murakami creates a site of inquiry with each painting, almost like a puzzle. I can imagine him in his studio, shifting things around, adding, subtracting, trying to make sense of it all. The colorful palette is instantly appealing, but there's a darkness lurking beneath the surface with those skulls. It makes you wonder what he was thinking about while creating it. For me, the way Murakami layers these symbols and flattens the perspective is part of a long conversation among artists, from Hokusai to Warhol. It’s all about taking something familiar and turning it on its head, opening up space for ambiguity. And ambiguity is where the magic happens, right? It's where we get to bring our own experiences and feelings to the table and make the artwork our own.