A more adorable-than-usual piece of mail landed in editors' mailboxes last week: A wind-up plastic Hello Kitty figurine that serves as an invitation to artist Tom Sachs's opening at Lever House. In typical Sachs D.I.Y form, the missive is artfully distressed—the plastic-covered package looks slightly dusty and is printed so that the artist's name appears to be tacked on with Scotch Tape.
The centerpiece of Sachs's show, "Bronze Collection," will be a 21-foot-tall bronze-cast, all-white Hello Kitty, which will be installed in Lever House's courtyard, where Damien Hirst's nude Virgin Mother recently resided. While Sachs' cartoon character might be a bit more PG-rated, the lawn on the building's 53rd Street side will feature some potentially nightmare-inducing figures: oversized bronze Hello Kitty and Miffy (she's the bunny counterpart to Hello Kitty) fountains that spurt water from their eyes. The exhibit opens on May 8 and be on display through September 6.
