Posi Mushroom 2007

Takashi Murakami gave us these "Posi Mushroom" things and they’re just so vibrant, aren’t they? It feels like the product of a really fun, playful process. The surface is super smooth, almost like a print, but there's something about the way those colors pop that makes you think about the physicality of painting. Like, how does he get those colours so bright? The eyes on the mushrooms, they’re all different, but they share this… intense gaze. It’s kind of mesmerizing, how they all stare out at you, like they're in on some cosmic joke. Murakami's whole vibe reminds me a bit of Gary Panter's punk aesthetic, but with this super polished finish. And like Panter, he’s playing with our ideas about what’s "high" and "low" art. It's a reminder that art can be fun and smart at the same time. It doesn't have to be one or the other, right?