Ink and marker on paper

29.7 × 21 cm. 11 3/4 × 8 1/4 in.

EXHIBITED
27 Oct - 14 Nov 2018, A State of Monsters, J.P Toys Gallery, Bangkok

PROVENANCE
Private Collection, Asia

Note: A label signed by the artist is affixed on the reverse

The Birthplace of Monsters and Elves
Top Star of Art Toy Designer Kasing Lung's Cute Fun

Hong Kong artist Kasing Lung moved to Holland as a child and learned the language through reading picture books. He was deeply influenced by fairy tales and began to draw monsters at the age of 6 or 7. He blended his imagination with the main characters in the stories to create a different fairy tale world. In 2003, he won the championship of the Belgium Drawing Contest and received cooperation from the famous toy brand How2work to create hundreds of Elf figurines. Among them, Labubu and Zimomo, born in 2015, are the most famous in the entire art toy world upon their launch, and with the support of the top art toy manufacturer Popmart, a series of “blind box” go popular. In 2020 and 2022, he was invited by Takashi Murakami to hold a solo exhibition at Kaikai Kiki Gallery in Tokyo. This time, we present Limitations(Lot 22) and Otto Ule(Lot 21), the iconic Labubu and Zimomo graffiti of Kasing Lung, to document his magical ideas.

Cute Twin-monsters, a Manifesto of Freedom Breaking through the Subgenre

Labubu and Zimomo are like twins. They have adorable fangs, wide ears, and sly, playful grins with wrinkled eyes. The only difference between them is that Zimomo has an exaggerated dinosaur-like tail and is a miniature Godzilla, both quirky and cute.

Otto Ule is named after the German scientist Otto Ule, who coined the term “light-year” in 1851, suggesting that this work is about interstellar travel. In the centre of the scene, Zimomo rises into the air on his feet, waving his iconic tail and little hands like a giant beast on the scene, with a humorous intimidation. The monster companions are surrounding, some in square-shaped capsules, others flying on wings. Behind Zimomo, the tops of many skyscrapers peek over the horizon, which on them are the words “Selfish Planet”, alluding to the artist's condemnation of human weakness and concern for environmental issues. Lung presents his usual adult fairy tale reflections on reality and dark humour by his sweet and adorable appearance, and adds to the meaning of the work.

Limitations was premiered at A State of Monsters, a major exhibition of Kasing Lung in Thailand. In this artwork, Labubu takes on a variety of roles, revealing different emotions: sometimes as a repairman with a helmet on, sometimes as a cool guy with a baseball cap on...As in real life, people take on many different identities. In the configuration of the characters, Labubu appears upright, rotated at 90 degrees or upside down, overturning the established notion of a single-directional composition and breaking down both the “limitations” of the composition and the “limitations” of the protagonist's identity. It represents infinite possibilities, accompanying us with joy, humour, mischievous bravery and freedom, and an ever-changing image that brings us the love of a fairy tale world.

Price estimate:
HKD: 50,000 – 80,000
USD: 6,400 – 10,200

Auction Result:
HKD: 144,000