Super Future Kid

May 27, 2019

Super Future Kid's work is a post-ironic ode to cartoons, plastic toys, and the saccharine. She uses play in her wacky, jubilant, high chroma paintings as a metaphor for adult problem solving. "There often is this very basic idea behind toys to emulate life by creating simple, fun, and happy versions of [things] that have serious and complex counterparts in the world of adults." Her paintings are full of silly nonsense and give viewers a chance to engage with their own childlike senses of wonder and play.

FRESH Prince, Acrylic, airbrush and stickers on canvas resting on 2 heads (acrylic, airbrush and glitter on hard coated PU, 2018

Add me on Myspace, acrylic and airbrush on canvas resting on 2 heads, acrylic and foam clay on hard coated EPS, 2019

In Add me on Myspace (2019) we see a cartoony portrait of a lavender faced, pink haired girl with faces for eyes. It's a nostalgic reflection on the social media platform that peaked over a decade ago. Myspace gave most millennials their first taste of virtual friend-groups, which we began to see as a reflection of ourselves, an early harbinger of personal branding. To have faces for eyes is to see the world through others' perspectives. The heads on which the painting rests establishes a distinction or hierarchy between the real and virtual, much in the way Myspace friends are sorted into a hierarchy of the "Top 8."

God is a Lady, acrylic and airbrush on canvas resting on dumbbell sculpture, acrylic and resin on hard coated PU, 2019

Saxy Saxman, Acrylic and Airbrush on canvas, 2018

Sexy Saxman (2018) is a goofy and unabashed ode to the saxophone. In it we see a rubbery dude with holes for eyes reared back and blowing mightily into his golden instrument. Between the sexy saxman's legs is a confused looking dog which can be seen as a foil to the human-ness of music. There may be some irony here, like in its namesake's prank videos, but that's not entirely the point. Pushing past the irony, we can begin to appreciate the sultry sax vibes of George Michael's “Careless Whisper.”

Spice Gurl, Acrylic and airbrush on canvas resting on Burger and Poopsi Coke, 2018

Spruce Nauman, Acrylic and airbrush on canvas, stickers on canvas sides, mushroom sculptures (acrylic, stickers, play doh, and resin on hard-coated PU), 2019

Spruce Nauman (2019) is an obvious pun on an artist once profiled in the New York Times as a ‘Complex Cowboy’— Bruce Nauman, of course. Here we see a clownish cowboy wearing pastel rainbow rain boots with a hand on his trippily elongated pink haired horse. As an art-historical reference it is more parody than tribute, riffing on a canonical contemporary white dude artist. But the sullen expression of the cowboy and the tears in his eyes allow us to contemplate and possibly even reconsider the Complex Cowboy.

I’ll fly with You, Acrylic and airbrush on canvas, 2018

Super Future Kid is busy showing work this summer. She was just in the group show ‘It Only Counts if You Take a Big Piece’ at Mindy Solomon Gallery, Miami. Her work is in ‘Post Digital Pop',’ curated by Mark Chalmers and Sasha Bogojev at The Garage, Amsterdam, by appointment through June 15. This August will mark a trip to the Seattle Art Fair with Mindy Solomon Gallery as well as a Summer Show at Gallery Poulsen. Follow along on Instagram to see what’s next! @superfuturekid