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WE LIKE IT: CUTE
Somerset House's latest exhibition explores how Cuteness has taken over the world
By Sally-Anne Limb, Head of Insights
8-minute read
“Cuteness has taken over the world.” Intrigued by this bold assertion by the team behind Somerset House’s major new exhibition, Spring London visited to discover how cute has become such an influential force in contemporary culture.
The show charts the evolution of cute from its early origins (think charming Victorian cat illustrations and Japanese “kawaii” culture) through to its irrepressible presence in today’s internet culture: spanning wide-eyed AI-generated kittens to cutesy internet memes. Presiding over the sea of cute is icon of cuteness, Hello Kitty, who celebrates her 50th anniversary this year.
One of the strengths of the exhibition is to caution against taking cute at face value: instead challenging us to consider how cute can act as both a source of consolation, and a subversive counterpart to the complexity and overwhelm of modern life.
As the exhibition attests, artists and brands alike have been quick to tap into the potential of cute, exploring its playful spectrum of creative possibility, as well as the surprisingly powerful emotions it can evoke. In the last year alone, there have been Powerpuff Girls on Nike SB Dunks, and cute-but-firey Calcifer from Howl’s Moving Castle in a Loewe capsule.
Creatively, there’s plenty of food for thought, including the power and potential of generative AI. Pieces such as Playing dress-up with AI (2023) by Graphic Thought Facility, demonstrate how leaning into the hyper-creative and surreal potential of the medium can generate visuals that variously charm or invite critique.
In the words of Cliff Lauson, Somerset House’s director of exhibitions, “By creatively unpacking cute’s many guises, we can not only understand something about ourselves … but also about how we relate to each other and the world around us.”
Cute is at Somerset House until 14th April
Credits:
Andrew Washford Murphy
Somerset House's latest exhibition explores how Cuteness has taken over the world
By Sally-Anne Limb, Head of Insights
8-minute read
“Cuteness has taken over the world.” Intrigued by this bold assertion by the team behind Somerset House’s major new exhibition, Spring London visited to discover how cute has become such an influential force in contemporary culture.
The show charts the evolution of cute from its early origins (think charming Victorian cat illustrations and Japanese “kawaii” culture) through to its irrepressible presence in today’s internet culture: spanning wide-eyed AI-generated kittens to cutesy internet memes. Presiding over the sea of cute is icon of cuteness, Hello Kitty, who celebrates her 50th anniversary this year.
One of the strengths of the exhibition is to caution against taking cute at face value: instead challenging us to consider how cute can act as both a source of consolation, and a subversive counterpart to the complexity and overwhelm of modern life.
As the exhibition attests, artists and brands alike have been quick to tap into the potential of cute, exploring its playful spectrum of creative possibility, as well as the surprisingly powerful emotions it can evoke. In the last year alone, there have been Powerpuff Girls on Nike SB Dunks, and cute-but-firey Calcifer from Howl’s Moving Castle in a Loewe capsule.
Creatively, there’s plenty of food for thought, including the power and potential of generative AI. Pieces such as Playing dress-up with AI (2023) by Graphic Thought Facility, demonstrate how leaning into the hyper-creative and surreal potential of the medium can generate visuals that variously charm or invite critique.
In the words of Cliff Lauson, Somerset House’s director of exhibitions, “By creatively unpacking cute’s many guises, we can not only understand something about ourselves … but also about how we relate to each other and the world around us.”
Cute is at Somerset House until 14th April
Credits:
Andrew Washford Murphy