The News #4 2017

Kaws made “The News #4” at some point, with... well, who knows what, exactly? But the colours are so flat and intense; it's like a cartoon trying to be serious. There's something about the slickness that gets me. No brushstrokes, no texture. It’s all surface, like a billboard. But then you see these weird shapes, these sort of familiar but alien forms, and it's like, what is this thing even about? Look at those red splinters near the bottom, for instance, they don’t look like anything real, but they still manage to convey some sort of feeling. It makes me think of Lichtenstein, but with more anxiety. Both artists are turning something mass-produced into a kind of personal statement. And ultimately, like all good art, it’s not about answers, it's about opening up more questions.