Creator: Takashi Murakami
Title: Jellyfish Eyes Cream
Work Type: Paintings
Date: 2001
Location: Exhibited at Marianne Boesky Gallery, Spring 2001
Material: Acrylic and on canvas mounted on board
Measurements: 40 cm x 40 cm
Image URL: https://library.artstor.org/#/asset/LARRY_QUALLS_1039624789
Jellyfish Eyes Cream is one of Murakami’s multitude of pieces that display a pattern of rounded, anime-styled ‘jellyfish’ eyeballs. Laid out on a skin colored background, the eyes are contained and connected to each other by blobs of darker paint, making connections for viewers to eyes to travel across. While this style of ‘anime eye’ is typically used to communicate an interaction of gazes (i.e. that a character with said eyes is looking at and communicating with eye contact, creating a sense of shared space) and a sense of cuteness in said gaze, the eyes in Murakami’s work both ‘look nowhere’ and ‘see nothing.’ In addition, without a subject for viewers to attach the eyes to, it is impossible to meet the gaze of the eyes. There is no linear perspective created by eye contact; instead, Murakami utilizes the nonlinear perspective of unseeing, differently sized eyes on a flat surface to create a separation between art and viewer.
Hana Tanabe – htanabe@conncoll.edu
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