Ankle Bracelet 2017

Kaws’ "Ankle Bracelet" is like a cartoon gone rogue, all hard edges and vibrant color fields. You can tell the artist is having fun with the way the different colors play off of one another. The pink lines crawling over the figure could be nerves, or maybe cracks in its veneer. I can imagine Kaws in his studio, pushing around shapes, trying to find that perfect balance between the cute and the unsettling. It’s not enough to just copy a cartoon, you have to mess with it, right? Subvert expectations, and make the viewer feel something strange and new. This character, whoever he is, looks like he’s running headlong into something, mouth agape, like he can’t believe what he’s seeing. You could read this as a take on consumer culture, the way we’re all barreling forward, chasing after the next shiny thing. Or maybe it's just a cool design. It's up to you.