KAWS, Urge VII (Grey), 2020

KAWS, Urge VII (Grey), 2020
Screenprint
17 x 12 in
43.2 x 30.5 cm
Edition of 250 plus 50 AP

In Urge VII (Grey) (2020), KAWS brings emotional restraint and compositional balance to his Urge series through a subdued yet powerful palette. Centered on a muted grey Companion figure, the composition is animated by four hands — rendered in teal, coral, pale mint, and cream — that gently press upon the figure’s body. Each hand is emblazoned with KAWS’s iconic X, a symbol that bridges anonymity and identity, pop culture and pathos.

This work captures KAWS’s ongoing dialogue between tenderness and tension. The overlapping hands evoke sensations of empathy and containment, as if the figure is both comforted and confined by the gestures that surround it. The neutral grey background intensifies this psychological ambiguity, functioning as both a calm void and a site of introspective stillness.

Executed with crosshatched texture and crisp contouring, Urge VII (Grey) reveals the artist’s mastery of visual economy — transforming simple forms into complex emotional narratives. The piece continues KAWS’s exploration of contemporary emotional life, where the need for connection is inseparable from the experience of being overwhelmed by it.

Through the interplay of color, composition, and gesture, KAWS transforms his Companion into a deeply human archetype — one that embodies both vulnerability and resilience. Urge VII (Grey) stands as a meditation on the quiet, internal struggles beneath the surface of modern existence, rendered in the artist’s unmistakable pop-iconic style.