In Ecstasy 1982

Kenny Scharf made 'In Ecstasy' with paint, conjuring a world where the weird is normal. Look at the colors, that wild sunset bleeding into the sea, those fluorescent greens and purples clashing but somehow working. I imagine Kenny in his studio, surrounded by toys and comic books, just letting his imagination run wild, mixing high and low art, beauty and the grotesque. He probably didn’t plan it all out, but let the painting evolve, each layer reacting to the last. That praying figure on the island? The disembodied head floating in the water? It’s like a dream, or maybe a nightmare, but with a sense of humor. It reminds me of other rule-breaking painters, like Philip Guston or Elizabeth Murray, who weren’t afraid to be messy and embrace the absurd. Each mark is a decision, a feeling, a thought made visible. Artists are constantly riffing off each other, creating this ongoing conversation through time. And that’s the joy of painting – it’s never really finished, always open to new interpretations, new meanings.