Cute

Surprising exhibition at Somerset House examining the aesthetic of cuteness.

The show looked at the growth of this aesthetic since the start of the internet with the blurb saying “it helps us to process a complicated world”. It discussed the ambiguity of cute being both vulnerable but also subversive.

The ground floor looked at the growth of the phenomenon from pre-internet examples like the cat paintings of Louis Wain to the 50th anniversary of Hello Kitty.

Upstairs blended contemporary artists responses to the idea with themed displays of toys, publications and fashion. Themes included how cute can be used to soften something that is unpalatable, how it can transform the monstrous and cuteness as an emotional response.

I must admit going in half term wasn’t the best choice as it was overrun by children, a number of them dressed in the aesthetic, and I’m not sure they were appreciating the nuisances, but I did overhear discussions about what people found cute. I also suspect I was a bit too old to appreciate the nostalgia of some of it having had a pre-internet childhood.

Closes 14 April 2024


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