FINAL DAYS is a hybrid of the cartoon Smurf and KAWS’s signature COMPANION figure, posed mid-stride in a stance reminiscent of Frankenstein in its 1931 film adaptation. This amalgamation of pop culture references, which range from children’s cartoons to classic horror, is a motif found throughout the artist’s oeuvre. The warm grains of Afrormosia wood and the rounded curves of the cartoonish silhouette are reminiscent of children’s toys, evoking a tactile memory of childhood. This nostalgic familiarity is disrupted by the sculpture’s colossal scale. There is a humorous absurdity in its title, which alludes to apocalyptic imagery, despite the work’s playful execution. By juxtaposing qualities in materiality, imagery and scale, the artist effectively blurs the traditional distinctions between high art and street culture.

The tradition of the first-generation pop artists, such as Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, KAWS utilises iconic pop culture imagery and its universal appeal to challenge and deconstruct cultural boundaries. Following his studies in illustration at the School of Visual Arts in New York, KAWS worked as a freelance illustrator for Disney’s 101 Dalmatians, and the animated series Daria and Dong. Perhaps this experience informed the design of his signature COMPANION figure, whose design is based on Mickey Mouse.

The present work epitomizes the artist’s ability to reimagine nostalgic symbols of childhood and popular culture for the contemporary audience, whose relationship with mass media is particularly potent. KAWS first began experimenting with wood in 2005 when he partnered with Karimoku, a Japanese furniture company, to produce his iconic COMPANION in wood. Following this experience, the artist had incorporated the material into his practice. “I was thinking of the relationship I’ve had to wood toys growing up, and the warmth and feeling they have when you hold them in your hand”. He recalled: “I wanted to expand on that, to create a wooden sculpture that made you feel smart but at the same t.mes I want the viewer to feel like they should somehow help or console the work, despite its towering gaze” (KAWS, quoted in “KAWS: The Story Behind an Artwork, in the Artist’s Own Words”, Modern Painters, February 2016) .

The smooth, varnished surface of FINAL DAYS consists of different planks of wood, joined in a technique evocative of marquetry. In adopting a technique which traditionally highlights technical artistry for the surface of a franchised cartoon character, FINAL DAYS unapologetically confronts the question of mass production and craftsmanship, recontextualizing the present-day artistic production within a larger cultural debate.

Beneath its playful guise, FINAL DAYS utilizes the potent symbols of childhood innocence to question and challenge contemporary modes of cultural production.“Even though I use a comic language, my figures are not always reflecting the idealistic cartoon view that I grew up on…COMPANION is more real in dealing with contemporary human circumstances. I think when I’m making work it also often mirrors what’s going on with me at that t.mes ” (KAWS, quoted in KAWS: WHERE THE END STARTS, exh. cat., Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Fort Worth, 2016, p. 5). It is perhaps this sinister undertone - the inextricable ties of our childhood memories with the underlying realities of its profitability and capitalist motives- which has in turn given rise to its very desirability. Both a commentary and part of its commentary, the artist and his creations has obtained an iconic status in contemporary society.