Kitty Wounds 2018

This work, "Kitty Wounds" by Ben Frost, born in 1975, uses, as his canvas, the packaging for adhesive bandages. Frost is known for subverting commercial packaging and branding through the addition of hand-painted imagery, often in a pop art or street art style. This piece juxtaposes the cartoon innocence of the Hello Kitty brand with a darker, more adult sensibility. Here, the artist appropriates a pre-existing cultural artifact - the Hello Kitty bandage box - and transforms it through the addition of a stylized female face that suggests both vulnerability and allure. This strategy challenges the corporate branding by layering new, sometimes conflicting, meanings on top of it. Is it an ironic commentary on the marketing of innocence, or a more complex exploration of gender and consumer culture? An art historian might research the history of pop art, street art, and the use of appropriation in contemporary art to further understand the artist's intentions. Ultimately, the meaning of this piece depends on the social and cultural context in which it's viewed.