Jellyfish Eyes – White 5

Takashi Murakami’s ‘Jellyfish Eyes – White 5’ lithograph perfectly exemplifies the unsettling
aesthetic of his much acclaimed ‘Jellyfish Eyes’ series. Since as early as the new millennium,
Murakami has pulled influences from anime and childhood stories to create this series filled with
disembodied floating eyes.

The variously sized eyes in ‘Jellyfish Eyes – White 5’, which float against the white background, are
recollective of fantastical multi or mono‐eyed monsters. These eyes are rendered in electric pinks,
neon greens, highlighter yellows and the like, colours which are made further vibrant through the
established colour contrasts with black, brown, white and other neutrally coloured forms.

While these forms are somewhat abstracted, they are nonetheless recognisable as eyes. Murakami
attached three eyelashes to each eye and also rendered them in various states of being with some
partially covered by their eyelids. What is perhaps the most jarring about these forms is the beady
pupils at their centres, juxtapositions to their playful colours. These countless eyes appear to stare at
the viewer, capturing them from every angle to create the illusion of being watched. Yet, their
interpretations are multitudinous, these works left open by Murakami to be individually unpacked
and understood by the viewers.