What Party #1 2020

Curator: KAWS’ 2020 work, "What Party #1", immediately strikes me with its use of bright colors and bold lines. It’s acrylic on canvas, continuing KAWS' exploration of recognizable, almost cartoonish figures. What is your first impression? Editor: It feels…flat, but intentionally so. The cheerfulness of the yellow is almost undone by those crossed-out eyes, isn’t it? There’s a sense of absence despite the vibrancy. It’s a strange tension. Curator: Absolutely. That use of familiar forms is core to KAWS’ practice. The figure is stripped down to a simplified design, which, as you mentioned, includes crossed-out eyes. These eyes have become KAWS’ signature symbol of existential questioning, appearing repeatedly across the work. It builds cultural recognition through character reinvention. Editor: It's also hard to ignore how the bright yellow figure references the visual language of Pop Art. I see the piece in line with Andy Warhol's silkscreen prints that co-opt everyday images from consumer culture. How do you think it operates in the contemporary art market? Curator: The deliberate echoing of past traditions combined with the creation of original and universally understandable icons gives it both accessibility and meaning, making his pieces widely valued in the contemporary art scene. Each character, even in its playful flatness, reflects a collective consciousness shaped by our social landscape. Editor: Which also underscores a commercial intention, doesn't it? This looks very much like a graphic design ready to adorn clothing or be reproduced at scale, which fits KAWS' prior collaborations and brand relationships. The fine art and the commercial spheres start to merge. Curator: Indeed. Through works like “What Party #1," KAWS plays with the dynamic between these two realms, sparking thoughts about what society values and how cultural symbols rise and change over time. Editor: In all, the power of art really does lie in its ability to keep conversations going across time and cultural shifts, just as we have here, looking at the simple 'X' and how much it speaks to modern values. Curator: That’s so true! Thank you. The painting and its familiar motif reminds me how art constantly repurposes established symbolic vocabularies, evolving our relationship to images as a collective whole.