Ups and Downs 3

Ups And Downs 3 is a signed screen print in colours on Saunders Waterford High White paper made by the ground-breaking American artist and designer, KAWS. The print depicts a pair of wide cartoon-style eyes rendered in two different tones of purple. KAWS adds his signature crosses to the eyes, a trademark feature of his visual language. While one eye can be seen in its entirety, with a blue cross obscuring the eye’s red pupil, the other eye is cropped due to the close-up angle of the composition. An open mouth is also visible, which showcases a set of multi-coloured teeth.

The large eyes and gaping mouth bring surrealist qualities to the print and the entire collection is permeated by abstract and surreal visual elements. The print is one of ten silkscreen prints that compose the Ups and Downs collection, made by KAWS in 2013 to mark the opening of his exhibition at the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas. Each print in the collection is rendered in bright colours and captures a close-up portion of a cartoon character’s face.

KAWS’ visual style, as evidenced in this collection of prints, is identifiable by his experimentation with bold colours, his use of thick, gestural lines, as well as his incorporation of a set of distinct graphic shapes, such as crossed out eyes.