Urge #1 2020

Here's a Kaws, "Urge #1", made sometime after 1974, rendered in flat, graphic color. I wonder what it was like for Kaws to make this! The color palette seems to float between reds and pinks, a kind of fleshy, bruised tone that’s both attractive and a little unsettling. Look at those big, cartoon-like shapes with their signature "X" eyes. It’s interesting how a simple mark can totally change the feeling of a form. You can see the influence of pop art, for sure, but there’s something else going on. It's like Kaws is playing with our expectations of what a painting should be, pushing it towards something more immediate and accessible. These artists are always in conversation, you know? Each one building on what came before, challenging it, and pushing things forward. Painting is such an amazing form of expression, a way to capture not just what we see, but how we feel.