“Acid M. J.” sold for HK$47.4 million

If you recall, last week we spoke about the Michael Jackson portrait by Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara to go on auction. The auction just happened and the portrait was sold for HK$47.4 million (US$5.2 million).

The winner of Nara’s painting “Acid M. J.”, which recreates Jackson’s finely curly flowing sea and signature wavy hairstyle, shows Nara’s homage. During the preview of the exhibition, Xingfang specially arranged the room to look like an 80s movie theater, which was quite thoughtful.

“Acid M. J.” was painted in 2009, and Jackson went on a “This Is It” concert tour that same year. The creamy glow in the background of the painting is reminiscent of the figure of the King of Pop on stage shrouded in spotlights, and the picture fully shows the peak moment of Jackson’s glowing on stage. Unfortunately, this year also witnessed Jackson’s death, and fans could no longer enjoy his stage style live.

The little girl stands alone in dark purple, contrasting strongly with the bright pale cream background, evoking the scene at the beginning of the show under the light of the stage lights. Yoshitomo Nara sees Jackson’s side beyond the glamour on stage and invites the viewer to reflect on his inner self.

In Nara’s work, purple-toned works mostly depict feelings of isolation, such as the 2006 work After the Acid Rain, which has a purple background, and the title of the work is also reminiscent of “Acid M. J.”

Looking closely at the little girl in the painting, half of her face is partially covered by Liuhai, and people can’t help but wonder whether the eyes hidden under the hair are open or closed. Nara uses this invisible part to guide viewers beyond Jackson’s stage glow and into the deep inner path of the king of pop.

It is also worth noting that the little girl’s nostrils, above the eyeballs and the clothes on her body are depicted in purple, which shows that Nara alludes to the loneliness behind Jackson’s fame. He once mentioned in an interview: “By painting lonely portraits, we can get a glimpse of the loneliness of this character and reflect on our inner self”

Such a straightforward portrayal of a musical figure is one of the few in Nara’s works. There are only two works directly titled by the character’s name, one is “Peter Ivers” on paper in 2021, and the canvas work is “Acid M. J.” that holds the hammer this time, which shows the extraordinary status of this work in Nara’s creative career.