Ups And Downs 9

Ups And Downs 9 is a signed screen print in colours on Saunders Waterford High White paper made by the ground-breaking American artist and designer, KAWS. Coming in an edition size of 100, the print depicts an abstract arrangement of shapes which seem inspired by the facial features of a cartoon character. The features are rendered in bold and vibrant colours, which brings a surreal quality to the print. Amongst the shapes, a wide green eye can be seen with a yellow pupil. KAWS obscures the pupil with a large blue cross. Crossed out eyes are a trademark feature of KAWS’ visual language and crosses have become a repeated visual motif that runs throughout KAWS’ oeuvre.

The print is part of the Ups And Downs collection, a body of ten silkscreen prints, all of which capture isolated close-ups of a cartoon character or abstract arrangements of cartoon inspired facial features. The collection was produced in 2013 to mark the opening of KAWS’ exhibition of the same name at the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas.

The cartoon imagery in this print reflects KAWS’ love for cartoons and animation. The artist studied illustration at the New York School of Visual Arts and then went on to be a freelance animator for Jumbo Pictures, where he worked on notable animation series such as Daria, Doug and 101 Dalmatians.