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Sources[edit]

  1. https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-et-kaws21-2009feb21-story.html
  2. https://hypebeast.com/2019/2/kaws-companion-blush-figure-release-details
  3. https://www.dallasobserver.com/arts/kaws-art-has-graced-museums-and-consumer-products-and-now-he-gets-his-first-survey-8753122
  4. https://www.themodern.org/collection/clean-slate/4781
  5. https://arrestedmotion.com/2014/02/showing-kaws-play-your-part-javier-lopez-madrid/
  6. https://arrestedmotion.com/2011/03/armory-week-%E2%80%9911-kaws-honor-fraser/
  7. https://arrestedmotion.com/2010/06/openings-kaws-aldrich-contemporary-art-museum/
  8. https://arrestedmotion.com/2019/01/showing-kawsholiday-taipei/
  9. https://arrestedmotion.com/2018/07/showing-kaws-holiday-floating-companion-seokchon-lake-seoul/ (largest installation to date)
  10. https://www.dior.com/en_us/men/collections-shows/dior-men%E2%80%99s-summer-2019-show (specifically the interview with Kim Jones)
  11. https://www.fatherly.com/news/uniqlo-releasing-sesame-street-shirts-kaws-street-artist-november/
  12. https://www.themodern.org/exhibition/1865
  13. https://arrestedmotion.com/2011/12/openings-kaws-%E2%80%93-focuskaws-modern-art-museum-of-fort-worth/ (FOCUS solo Exh.)
  14. https://arrestedmotion.com/2012/09/installation-kaws-companion-passing-through-modern-art-museum-of-fort-worth/
  15. http://www.honorfraser.com/?s=past&eid=49
  16. https://arrestedmotion.com/2016/06/showing-kaws-galerie-perrotin-seoul/
  17. https://arrestedmotion.com/2012/02/openings-kaws-down-time-high-museum-of-art/
  18. https://www.pafa.org/exhibitions/kaws-pafa
  19. https://www.pafa.org/exhibitions/born-bend
  20. https://www.pafa.org/exhibitions/kaws-30th-street-station
  21. http://cacmalaga.eu/2014/03/20/kaws-2/
  22. https://www.marcelkatz.net/kaws
  23. Modern Painters, Nov2013, Vol. 25 Issue 10, p31- 32; 2p,2013, 2p.
  24. Architectural Digest. Dec2017, Vol. 74 Issue 12, p66-79. 14p. 23 Color Photographs.
  25. Street to Studio. Rafael Schacter. 2018. pg. 98-103. (Have the book in hand)
  26. https://www.widewalls.ch/10-celebrity-collectors/swizz-beatz-2/
  27. https://observer.com/2012/11/kaws-brings-his-companion-over-for-thanksgiving/
  28. https://www.widewalls.ch/10-celebrity-collectors/swizz-beatz-2/

Article for Peer Review[edit]

Brian Donnelly (born 1974), known professionally as Kaws (stylized as KAWS), is an American artist and designer. His work includes repeated use of a cast of figurative characters and motifs, some dating back to the beginning of his career in the 1990s,[1] initially painted in 2D and later realized in 3D. Some of his characters are his own creations while others are reworked versions of existing icons.

Kaws' sculptures range in size from a few inches to ten meters tall,[1] and are made from various materials including fiberglass, aluminum, vinyl, wood and bronze.[2]

His work is exhibited in galleries and museums, held in the permanent collections of public institutions, and avidly collected by individuals [3] and celebrities such as producer Swizz Beatz, and rapper Pharrell Williams [26]. A number of books illustrating his work have been published [citation needed] He currently lives and works in Brooklyn, New York [citation needed].

Contents[edit]

1Life and Career

1.1 Academic background & early career

1.2 Artistic philosophy

1.3 Products and commercial collaborations

1.4 Current

2 Art style

3 Works and exhibitions

3.1 Solo Shows

3.2 Group Shows

4 Collections

5 Publications

6 References

7 External links

Life and Career[edit]

Academic background and early career[edit]

Donnelly was born in 1974 in Jersey City, New Jersey[4], and went to High School in New Jersey. Donnelly then graduated from the School of Visual Arts in New York with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in illustration in 1996.[5] Following graduation, he briefly worked for Jumbo Pictures as a freelance animator painting backgrounds for the animated series 101 Dalmatians, Daria and Doug.[6] Animator by day, and graffiti artist by night [27], Donnelly created a name for himself, KAWS, based on the way the letters looked. In 1999 KAWS made his first toy with Japanese company Bounty Hunter, a vinyl figure of Mickey Mouse with x-ed out eyes. Soon after, he began subvertising billboards,and phone booths using a key gifted to him by friend Barry Mcgee, as well as bus shelters using a key he created for himself [1 & interview].[3] Since then, he has subvertised in Paris, London, Berlin and Tokyo.[7]

Artistic philosophy[edit]

Over the years he has been influenced by traditional life painters, such as Gerhard Richter, Claes Oldenburg, and Chuck Close,[8] and has been compared to Andy Warhol [1 & 3] for his reach outside of the gallery space as well as his ability to sell across the market.

When speaking on his series, The Kimpsons, which subverted the American cartoon The Simpsons, Kaws explained that he "found it weird how infused a cartoon could become in people's lives; the impact it could have, compared to regular politics."[6]

Products and commercial collaborations[edit]

In 1999 Kaws began to design and produce his first vinyl toy with the Japanese clothing brand Bounty Hunter.[15] He has collaborated on toys with other Japanese companies: Nigo for A Bathing Ape (Bape), and Santastic!. He and Medicom Toy ran OriginalFake, a toy and clothing brand and store in Aoyama, Tokyo from 2013.[16]

Kaws has collaborated with Jun Takahashi for the brand Undercover, as a voice-over artist for Michael "Mic" Neumann's Kung Faux, and worked on projects with Burton, Vans, Supreme and DC Shoes. There are Kaws-designed small edition bottles for Dos Equisand Hennessy, rugs for Gallery 1950 and packaging for Kiehl's cosmetics. In 2004 he collaborated with Undefeated Brand on a billboard project in Los Angeles.[17][18] In 2008 he collaborated with John Mayer on guitar picks.[19]

For the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards, Kaws redesigned the MTV Moonman trophy in the form of his "Companion" character.[20]His 3D model was also used to create a 60-foot tall inflatable version,[21] and he redesigned various event materials.[3]

He has illustrated magazine covers for The New Yorker, Clark Magazine (November/December 2010),[22] i-D and Sneeze Magazine.[23] He has created cover art for musicians Towa Tei, Cherie, Clipse (Clipse "Till The Casket Drops) and Kanye West (808s & Heartbreak).[24]

Nike Air Force 1 trainers with a Kaws design were released in 2008 (the Nike 1World project involved 18 different designers).[25]

In 2014, Kaws designed the bottle artwork for the scent "Girl" by Comme des Garçons and Pharrell Williams.[26]

In 2016, Kaws collaborated with clothing store Uniqlo to produce a line of T-shirts and accessories that were priced cheaply.[27]

In March 2017, Nike subsidiary Jordan Brand released a capsule collection in collaboration with Kaws – Air Jordan four sneakers customized by Kaws, and a number of apparel pieces.[28]

In April 2017, Kaws collaborated with clothing store Uniqlo and comic strip Peanuts produced by Charles M. Schulz of Peanuts to produce a line of T-shirts, accessories, and plushies that were affordable.[29]

In May 2017, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City released limited supplies of the $200 Kaws Companion action figure, resulting in the MoMA Design Store website crashing due to the unprecedented rush of traffic.[30]

In May 2017, UK auction house Phillips sold a Kaws Seated Companion (2011) bronze sculpture for approximately $411,000 USD.[31]

In May 2018, Kaws installed two 26-foot tall "Companion" and "BFF" sculptures at a shopping complex in Changsha, China.[32]

In November 2018, Kaws collaborated with Uniqlo to create a range of clothing and soft toys based on the popular children's show; Sesame Street.[33]

Current[edit]

He currently makes sculptures, acrylic paintings on canvas, and screen prints and commercially collaborates predominantly on limited edition toys, but also clothing, skate decks and other products [citation needed].

Art Style[edit]

Kaws’ work can be characterized by an emphasis on color and line, distinctive graphics, such as the repeated use of “x”s on hands and eyes, and a reappropriation of pop culture icons such as Mickey Mouse, the Michelin Man, the Smurfs, Snoopy, and SpongeBob SquarePants. His characters are generally depicted in a shy and/or powerless pose often times with their hands over their eyes [3]. His earliest characters date back to the beginning of his career in the 1990s: Companion (created in 1999),[3]Accomplice, Chum and Bendy.[1] Companion is a grayscale figure based on Mickey Mouse with his face obscured by both hands that has been produced at large scales in various poses and exhibited in Switzerland,[10] Hong Kong,[11] Malaga,[12] London[13] and China [14] as well as adapted into a balloon for the 2012 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade,[3] as part of its "Blue Sky Gallery" alongside with other balloons.

His work was included in the traveling exhibition Beautiful Losers, which started at the Cincinnati Contemporary Art Center and traveled throughout the US and Europe, and included his then largest museum show to date at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, GA in 2012.[9]

Works and Exhibitions[edit]

Solo Shows

2008 -”Saturated”- The Gering and López Gallery in NY, New York

Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin in Miami, Florida

2010- “Companion (passing through) ”Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art in Ridgefield, Connecticut

Dec 2011- Feb 2012- “FOCUS: KAWS”- The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth in Fort Worth, Texas

Group Shows

2009- Honor Fraser Gallery in Culver City, CA

Collections[edit]

Kaws' work is held in the following permanent public collections:

Publications[edit]

  • Kaws Exposed. Seattle: ARO Space, 1999. ISBN 9789110509443. Edition of 2000 copies. 31 pages of photographs of his graffiti.
  • Kaws One. Tokyo: Little More, 2001. Edited by Kawachi, Taka and Akio E-da. ISBN 978-4898150450.
  • Kaws C10: The Paintings of Kaws. Seattle: Neverstop, 2002. ISBN 9780971709409. With an introduced by Carlo McCormick. Edition of 3000 copies.
  • Kaws: 1993-2010. Skira Rizzoli), 2009. Written by Mónica Ramírez-Montagut. ISBN 978-0847834341. A retrospective, with illustrations and text. Edited by Ian Luna and Lauren A. Gould and with a contribution by Germano Celant.
  • Kaws: Downtime. Atlanta, GA: High Museum of Art, 2012. Edited by Michael Rooks and Seth Zucker. ISBN 9781932543476. With a foreword by Michael E. Shapiro, an essay by Rooks, and a list of Kaws exhibitions. 112 pages. A catalogue to accompany the exhibition Downtime at High Museum of Art.
  • Kaws: Final Days Exhibition Catalogue. 82 pages covering an exhibition at the Center of Contemporary Art of Malaga in 2014.
  • Kaws Exhibition Catalogue. Wakefield, England: Yorkshire Sculpture Park, 2016. Photographs by Jonty Wilde. ISBN 978-1-908432-21-6. A catalogue to accompany an exhibition at Yorkshire Sculpture Park. With texts by Flavia Frigeri, Helen Pheby, and Clare Lilley.[34]
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