No Reply #7 2015

"No Reply #7" by Kaws is a colourful jigsaw of geometric forms. I wonder how the artist built up the composition? Maybe, like me, he added shapes until it felt right. Looking at these flat, bold colours and clean edges, I am thinking about the kind of conversations that happen between artists. Kaws is riffing on Pop Art, and on cartoons. It’s like he takes familiar images and flattens them, turning them into something new but also kinda melancholic. The painting is strangely still. It's like a paused animation. That simple cross motif pulls the whole image together. It creates a focal point amid all the other shapes. It's a reminder that painting can be about paring things back to their essence. It makes me want to return to the studio to play with shapes! I think that’s what art’s all about.