Ups And Downs #4 2013

Kaws made this cool, bright, graphic painting, *Ups and Downs #4*, using acrylic. The colors in this piece are super bold, like someone turned up the saturation way too high. There are these crossed-out eyes that grab you first, orange circles with turquoise crosses, floating on a purple and red background. It’s all very flat, very graphic, like a sign. There's no blending, just blocks of color bumping up against each other, and it gives the painting a real punch. Then you notice how neatly everything's painted, the crisp edges, the smooth surfaces. It’s like he’s saying, "Here it is, no mistakes, no fuss." I wonder if that’s a comment on perfection, or maybe it's just about making something super clean and simple in a world that's messy and complicated. It reminds me a little bit of some of Alex Katz's flat figures, but with a pop art twist. Both artists leave space for our imagination.