In a reduced colour palette of Kazimir Malevich-esque ruby red contrasting bright white, KAWS paints a pooling puddle of blood in NEW YORK. Reaching out from beneath the scarlet ripples are a pair of gloved hands marked with the artist’s signature X’s, appearing only moments away from being completely submerged.
Harkening back to KAWS’s 2012-piece, KEEP MOVING, the disembodied hands recall numerous popular culture references that range from ‘Thing’ from the famed The Adamms Family movies to when Star Wars Jedi Luke Skywalker loses his hand during an epic duel. At the same time, whilst the gloves are instantly recognisable as belonging to KAWS’s internationally beloved COMPANION figure, their cartoonish depiction further nods to rubber-hose animation characters whom KAWS presumably takes inspiration from, having previously worked as a freelance animator for Jumbo Pictures.
![](https://phillips.vo.llnwd.net/v1/web_dev/lot-component/GIFKAWS_7a610386-b0f1-48a4-adc2-b946a4104c4f.gif)
![](https://phillips.vo.llnwd.net/v1/web_dev/lot-component/image_9ea88725-9e4c-45c7-a783-7babeb24a180.png)
Following in the footsteps of artists such as Andy Warhol, who famously injected commercial products into spaces of fine art, KAWS taps into the nostalgic warmth of pop-art graphics to imbue the present work with a playful intricacy. Starkly juxtaposing this, however, is the more morbid edge the composition presents which, when considered in relationship to the work’s title, can perhaps be understood as a darkly humoured homage to the city the artist calls home.
As such, a more apt comparison can arguably be made to the visually striking works of Roy Lichtenstein, who employed comic-strip iconography to explore highly emotive motifs including that of morality and destruction. However, unlike Lichtenstein’s inclusion of text-filled speech bubbles that help convey to the viewer his subject’s inner concerns, KAWS’s compositions are coolly ambiguous, characterised by unexpected twists of the recognisable that help to define his simultaneously endearing and sinister visual world.
In speaking of the tension that permeates his cartoonish aesthetic, the artist explains ‘even though I use a comic language, my figures are not always reflecting the idealistic cartoon view that I grew up on, where everything has a happy ending...I want to understand the world I’m in and, for me, making and seeing art is a way to do that.’ i
Nodding to his background as a graffiti-artist provocateur tagging billboards across New York, NEW YORK perfectly showcases KAWS’s striking yet simple signature approach of bold colour and refined line. With this in a mind, an interesting comparison can be made to the work of anonymous British artist Banksy, whom too, is celebrated for his direct visual language that is whimsical yet with a satirical tone.
But whereas Banksy uses his imagery to convey social or political critique, KAWS’s work instead elicits complex emotional responses as his COMPANION portrayals address the ubiquitous feelings of isolation, anxiety, and the desire for human connection. Moreover, whilst Banksy has become renowned for his spray paint and stencil technique, NEW YORK reveals KAWS’s masterful control over his medium as the sharply painted shapes are executed with swift, calligraphic line that leaves no trace of the artist’s free-handed approach.
As an exceptional work from one of the most defining and forward-thinking artists of our present age, NEW YORK demonstrates the sophisticated humour that has propelled KAWS to becoming a household name. As curator Michael Auping elucidates:
"KAWS is not just referring to pop culture, he is making it."
— Michael Auping
Regarded as one of the most important creators of his generation for his ingenuity of reconceptualising some of the world’s most cherished icons, work by KAWS can be found in prominent public collections around the world. This includes the Brooklyn Museum, New York; Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Texas; CAC Malaga; Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego; High Museum of Art, Atlanta; and the Rosenblum Collection, Paris.
In addition to extensive solo exhibitons around the globe, KAWS’s practice has most recently been honoured with a solo exhibition, KAWS: SPOKE TOO SOON, at Skarstedt in New York (5 November – 11 December 2021). KAWS also recently exhibited a monumental retrospective in his hometown, KAWS: WHAT PARTY, which was hosted by the Brooklyn Museum in New York between 26 February – 5 September 2021.
Recent solo exhibitions also include the Mori Arts Centre in Tokyo (16 July – 11 October 2021), and a retrospective at the National Gallery of Victoria, Australia (2019-2020). An upcoming exhibition will soon open at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta: KAWS PRINTS, which will run from 3 December 2021 – 27 March 2022.