Cherry 2005

This is "Cherry" by Takashi Murakami, and you know, looking at it, I can only imagine the meticulous process he went through to make this. He's overlaid a Louis Vuitton print with juicy-looking cherries and their little green stems. It's a very particular kind of clash, a playful dance between high art and pop culture. Murakami really gets the tension between art and commerce, doesn't he? I bet he was thinking about Andy Warhol while creating it. It's like he is turning consumerism into a canvas. Each little cherry seems perfectly placed. I imagine him, brush in hand, carefully crafting each one, deciding where it sits in relation to the brand's insignia. The repetition almost hypnotizes you. Ultimately, I think, he's playing with our perceptions and expectations, questioning the very definition of art itself. It's what all artists do, just in very different ways.