![]() dollars, a new auction record for the artist at the time. On Apat Sotheby's in Hong Kong, The Kaws Album (2005), a painting by Kaws commissioned by Nigo, sold for 115.9 million Hong Kong dollars, or about $14.7 million U.S. 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, including his then-largest museum show to date at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, GA in 2012. Kaws has periodically shown both paintings and products at Colette in Paris since 1999. Having already created oversized sculptures in the past, Kaws started to produce further sculptures of his Companion character for exhibitions in Switzerland, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Málaga, London, and China. The figure was adapted into a balloon for the 2012 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, as part of its "Blue Sky Gallery" of balloons. In 1999, the Japanese toy company Bounty Hunter produced and sold a vinyl Companion toy (Mickey Mouse with X-ed out eyes). Kaws' Companion is a grayscale clown-like figure based on Mickey Mouse with his face obscured by both hands, and two bones sticking out of his head. His series The Kimpsons subverted the American cartoon The Simpsons. Some of his characters date back to the beginning of his career in the 1990s: Companion (created in 1999), Accomplice, Chum, and Bendy. Kaws' acrylic paintings and sculpture have many repeating images, all meant to be universally understood, surpassing languages and cultures. Kaws' Companion (Passing Through) at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. Kaws has since subvertised in Paris, London, Berlin, and Tokyo. Using a key he created for himself, he also started subvertising bus shelters. Animator by day, and graffiti artist by night, Kaws started subvertising billboards, bus shelters, and phone booths, using a skeleton key gifted to him by friend and fellow graffiti artist Barry McGee. Moving to New York City in the 1990s, illegal graffiti was the first step of Kaws learning his craft. Following graduation, he briefly worked for Jumbo Pictures as a freelance animator painting backgrounds for the animated series 101 Dalmatians, Daria and Doug. He went on to attend the School of Visual Arts in New York City, receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts in illustration in 1996. ![]() As a teenager, Donnelly created a tag for himself, KAWS (based on the way the letters looked - the word, in fact, has no meaning), which he painted on the roof of an area building so that he could see it outside while attending class in high school. KAWS is represented by Skarstedt Gallery, New York.ĭonnelly was born in 1974 in Jersey City, New Jersey where he attended St. Kaws lives and works in Brooklyn, New York, creating sculptures, acrylic paintings on canvas, and screen prints while also collaborating commercially, predominantly on limited edition toys, but also clothing, skateboard decks, and other products. A number of books illustrating his work have been published. ![]() His work is exhibited in galleries and museums, held in the permanent collections of public institutions, and avidly collected by individuals including music producer Swizz Beatz, internet figure PewDiePie, rappers Pharrell Williams, Kid Cudi, and members of South Korean group BTS. ![]() Kaws' influences come from traditional high art painters like Gerhard Richter, Claes Oldenburg, and Chuck Close, and he has been compared to the likes of Andy Warhol for his cross-market appeal and ability to blur lines between commercial and fine art. Kaws' sculptures range in size from a few inches to ten meters tall, and are made from various materials including fiberglass, aluminum, wood, bronze, and a steel pontoon inflatable raft. Some of his characters are his own creations while others are reworked versions of existing icons. 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, initially painted in 2D and later realized in 3D. Painting, graphic design, sculpture, graffiti, toys, collectiblesīrian Donnelly (born November 4, 1974), known professionally as Kaws (stylized as KAWS), is an American artist and designer. ![]()
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