The Dream Starts Here 2003

Mark Kostabi's painting, "The Dream Starts Here," feels like a stage set, a constructed reality built with bold, flat colors and simplified forms. The faceless figures, almost mannequin-like, seem to be acting out a scene. Look at how he uses color. These aren't naturalistic hues, but bright, almost synthetic shades that create a sense of artificiality. The smooth, blended surfaces of the figures contrast with the more textured, broken color in the surrounding shapes. It's like he's setting up different planes of reality. I’m really drawn to the shapes at the bottom of the painting – the way they interact, creating a vibrant, slightly chaotic energy. It’s as if the controlled, dreamlike quality of the central image is erupting into something more spontaneous. There's something about this painting that reminds me of de Chirico, with its dreamlike atmosphere and simplified forms. Yet Kostabi’s use of color and his almost cartoonish figures give it a contemporary edge. It is a conversation with painting's past, but in a distinctly contemporary voice.