Jan9-Feb21: Here Kitty Kitty: Gowoon Lee at Meredith Rosen Gallery
- Upstairs NYC
- Feb 10
- 2 min read
The world’s most famous "white kitten with no name" enters her uncanny art gallery era.
Date & Time
On View: Now through Saturday, February 21, 2026
Hours: * Tuesday–Friday: 12 PM – 5 PM
Saturday: 12 PM – 4 PM
Admission: Free
Location
Meredith Rosen Gallery
327 West 36th Street, New York, NY (Note: The gallery is in the West 30s, bordering Chelsea/Hudson Yards area) (map)
Overview:
Meredith Rosen Gallery presents "Here Kitty Kitty," a solo exhibition by South Korean artist Gowoon Lee. This isn't your typical character pop-up; it is a sophisticated, slightly unsettling exploration of Hello Kitty as a vessel for consumer culture and femininity. Lee uses the character’s famous "blankness"—the fact that she has no mouth, no voice, and no backstory—as a playground for projection. Through distortion, repetition, and hyper-realistic trompe-l’œil techniques, mass-produced merchandise like Rubik’s cubes, sticker sheets, and plastic combs are transformed into hauntological fine art.
Artist: Gowoon Lee (Düsseldorf-based, b. 1991)
Gallery: Meredith Rosen Gallery
Social: Follow the conversation at @meredithrosengallery
Closing Soon: Do not miss the Saturday, Feb 21st finale.
Key Takeaways
The "Uncanny" Cute: Lee pushes Hello Kitty’s roundness and symmetry into the realm of the "uncanny" by fracturing and repeating her face until it becomes a ghostly, monochromatic motif.
Critique of Femininity: The exhibition probes how "innocuous femininity" is marketed to young girls through commodified objects, using sticker sheets and rainbows to suggest deeper questions about identity and value.
Rising Star: Artist Gowoon Lee is a rising force in the international art scene, with works already in prestigious collections like the Rubell Museum and recent appearances at Art Basel (Miami, Paris, Hong Kong).
Pure Surface: The show argues that Hello Kitty exists as "pure surface," allowing us to project our own cultural values onto her.
An Insider’s Tip:
This exhibition closes on February 21, so this is the final week to catch it. Because the gallery is tucked away on West 36th Street, it offers a more "hidden gem" feel compared to the main Chelsea drags. The trompe-l’œil (illusion of 3D) work is particularly striking in person—the painted "stickers" look so real you'll find yourself resisting the urge to peel them off the canvas.
