The News #8 2017

Kaws made "The News #8" without a specified date, using flat planes of vibrant color outlined with bold black lines. It's like a high-key cartoon, but with this undercurrent of something melancholy. The surface is super smooth, almost like it's been printed rather than painted, but I bet if you got up close, you’d see subtle variations in the paint. The colors are so saturated; that acid green clashes beautifully with the bubblegum pink, divided by that electric blue area with red veins, like a world map of arteries. Look at the two crosses for eyes in the upper quadrants, one blue and one pink, it's a simple gesture, but it completely transforms the reading of the forms, suggesting the figure of a character. There's a nod to Pop Art here, maybe even a wink to early Disney, but filtered through something darker, something of our time. It reminds me a little of Takashi Murakami, that same tension between cuteness and something more unsettling. Ultimately, it’s this ambiguity that makes it so compelling.