Somerset House’s CUTE exhibition is an ode to all things sugary, sweet and undeniably adorable. From Sanrio to old-school video games, the artistic showcase has it all.
Opening its doors to the public earlier this year, Somerset House unveiled its highly-anticipated CUTE exhibition. Following the massive success of its recent The Missing Thread exhibition, Somerset House continues to enthrall visitors with its exciting displays. Exploring the multi-faceted nature of the adjective, the show aims to showcase the power and omnipotence of cuteness in contemporary culture. Dividing the word into five distinct themes – Cry Baby, Play Together, Monstrous Other, Sugar-Coated Pill and Hypersonic – the exhibition unpacks cute’s ever-expanding allure.
Each theme targets a very distinct branch of the word’s meaning. In particular, Cry Baby unpicks tenderness and vulnerability; pulling at visitor’s heartstrings, the compilation of work centers around a sentiment of helplessness.
Meanwhile, Play Together encourages childlike naivety and adventurousness. Paying homage to video games such as Animal Crossing and Tamagotchi, the section acts as the ultimate hit of nostalgia.
Monstrous Other tackles the darker side of cuteness. Intertwining the grotesque with its sugary counterpart, objects on display concern concepts such as the uncanny and the macabre.
“Like a tiny kitten waiting to pounce, its power and influence has slowly crept up on us and today its adorable aesthetic infiltrates almost every aspect of our daily lives.”
Claire Catterall
Starkly juxtaposing the aforementioned theme, Sugar-Coated Pill investigates the use of cuteness as a tool across various forms of propaganda. Displaying cuddly toys produced by pharmaceutical companies, it calls into question and demonstrates the strength behind an innocent demeanor.
Finally, Hypersonic looks into post-internet cuteness and the impact of technology on our current zeitgeist. Maximalist, glossy and cyber, cuteness has never been so accessible.
Speaking on the exhibition, Claire Catterall, Senior Curator at Somerset House, said: “Cute is undeniably the most prominent aesthetic of our times. Yet, it has only now begun to be taken seriously. Like a tiny kitten waiting to pounce, its power and influence has slowly crept up on us and today its adorable aesthetic infiltrates almost every aspect of our daily lives…Nowhere is this more apparent than in the work of contemporary artists and musicians who use cute as a key register, exploring its complexity and meaning to shape their own practice.”
And Catterall’s feline simile is not to be overlooked. Upon first entering CUTE, it becomes immediately apparent that cats play a pivotal role in the exhibition’s sequence. Inspired by the inventor of the world wide web, Tim Berners Lee, and his reaction to the internet’s addiction to kittens, the exhibition’s introduction explores the elusive creatures.
Visitors are at once met with work from Louis Wain – a famous English artist renowned for his depictions of anthropomorphised cats. Drawing cats from the late 19th to early 20th century, the pieces highlight the transition between cats being seen as working animals to our furry domesticated friends of today. Likewise, Harry Painter’s The Brighton Cat series of postcards from the 1870s signal a similar shift. Yet, Painter’s postcards celebrate more than just beautiful bobcats. Marking a poignant moment in time where postcards efficiently and effectively communicated information, the series reached a remarkable amount of people thanks to the birth of photography and mass production techniques.
Exploring cats from all cultures, the exhibition also coincides with the 50th anniversary of Hello Kitty. For CUTE, Somerset House has joined forces with Japanese entertainment company Sanrio to celebrate archival and contemporary Hello Kitty memorabilia. Featuring a dedicated plushie space immersive disco and a Hello Kitty-inspired Cute Coffee Shop by Artbox Café, spaces are brought to life with saccharine sweetness.
But the inclusion of Japanese pop-cultural phenomena doesn’t stop there. Analyzing the development of Japanese “kawaii” culture, the show presents printed materials, figurines, illustrated handkerchiefs, sketchbooks and more from the Yayoi Museum in Tokyo. In a similar fashion, CUTE promotes the work of Japanese female illustrators of the 1960s who created work to challenge notions of cuteness invented by their male predecessors. Moreover, Aya Takano’s painting The Galaxy Inside encapsulates the kawaii sentiment felt across the country at the time.
Japanese influence is also seen throughout musical videos featured in Hannah Diamond’s sleepover-inspired installation. Streaming clips from Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, SOPHIE, XG, Kim Petras, Charli XCX, Marky B and many more, Diamond’s immersive sensory space is an ode to the eclectic world of pop and electronic dance music. Formerly part of the now-disbanded PC Music record label and collective, Diamond is infamous for embracing a hyper-feminine silhouette. Combining her signature pink hair with a plethora of girlhood-inspired visuals, there is no better artist to inform the ongoing exhibition.
For those hoping to learn more about the recent rise in adorable aesthetics, Somerset House’s latest display makes for the most enjoyable, and informative, cuteness overload.
The CUTE exhibition runs from the 25th of January to 14th of April. For more information, please visit here. Cover image of Hannah Diamond, Affirmations. Image courtesy of the artist; A monster installation in the CUTE exhibition at Somerset House, credit David Parry PA for Somerset House; above Cosima von Bonin, Killer Whale with Long Eyelashes I (Rhino Version), Rhino by Renate Mueller, Germany, 1960s. Courtesy of the artist and Petzel Gallery, New York.
