Ups And Downs #2 2013

Here we have Kaws's "Ups And Downs #2," a piece that jumps right out at you with its blocks of vivid color and bold design. You can almost feel the artist mapping out the composition, deciding where each color should live. There’s an immediacy to it, a sense that Kaws is thinking through feeling, making the painting equivalent to a thought. I bet that neon yellow squiggle felt really good to paint, smooth and satisfying. And that insistent bright orange circle, crossed out… what’s that about? It reminds me a little of those "X" marks Johns would put in his paintings – canceling out, questioning everything, and maybe even the painting itself. I wonder if Kaws looks at Johns? Anyway, what I love about painting is that it’s never just one thing, it can be anything, and that feeling, that process, comes right through the surface for us to see.