Kaws Black Dissected Companion (Black)
KAWSKaws Black Dissected Companion (Black) 2016
2016
About the Item
- Creator:KAWS (American)
- Creation Year:2016
- Dimensions:Height: 11 in (27.94 cm)Width: 5 in (12.7 cm)Depth: 3 in (7.62 cm)
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:New in its original packaging.
- Gallery Location:NEW YORK, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU35432228753
KAWS
In the beginning, Brian Donnelly was just a kid from Jersey City, New Jersey, who got into the graffiti thing. KAWS was his tag, chosen simply because he liked the way it looked. Today, KAWS’s oeuvre encompasses art toys, sculptures and colorful paintings and prints that appropriate pop phenomena like the Smurfs, the Simpsons and SpongeBob SquarePants.
In the late 1990s, the artist, a 1996 graduate of New York’s School of Visual Arts, was making a living as an illustrator for the animation studio Jumbo Pictures. Like young Hansel and Gretel with their trail of crumbs, KAWS would mark the morning route to his downtown Manhattan office with “subvertising,” “interrupting” fashion advertisements by adding his colorful character Bendy, its sinuous length sliding playfully around the likes of a Calvin Klein perfume bottle or supermodel Christy Turlington.
These creations gained a following, to the point where work posted in the morning would disappear by lunchtime. Even in those early days, KAWS was hot on the resale market.
“When I was doing graffiti,” he once explained, “it meant nothing to me to make paintings if I wasn’t reaching people.” Instead of seeking entrée to the elite New York art world (which, frankly, wasn’t looking for a street artist anyway), KAWS moved to Japan, where a flourishing youth culture welcomed visionaries like him.
In 1999, he partnered with Bounty Hunter, a Japanese toy and streetwear brand, to release his first toy. Companion — an eight-inch-tall vinyl reimagining of Mickey Mouse, with a skull-and-crossbones head and trademark XX eyes — debuted with a limited run of 500. It sold out quickly.
Companion was the first of more than 130 toy designs, which came to include such characters as Chum, Blitz, Be@rbrick, BFF and Milo, each immediately recognizable as KAWS figures by their XX eyes. Fans have proved insatiable. In 2017, MoMA’s online store announced the availability of a limited supply of KAWS Companion figures; as avid collectors logged on to stake their claim, the website crashed — multiple times.
Companion is the most visible of the KAWS posse, appearing over the past decade in new postures and combinations in monumental works. These include Along the Way (2013), an 18-foot-tall wooden sculpture of two Companions leaning on each other for support; Together (2016), two Companions in a friendly embrace, which debuted during an exhibition of KAWS’s work at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, in Texas; and KAWS:HOLIDAY (2018), a 92-foot-long inflatable Companion floating on its back in Seoul’s Seokchon Lake. The sculptures were re-created as toys, blurring the lines between art and commerce.
KAWS’s visual language may be drawn from cartoons, but his work doesn’t necessarily evoke childlike joy. “My figures are not always reflecting the idealistic cartoon view that I grew up on,” he explains in the catalogue for the Fort Worth exhibition. “Companion is more real in dealing with contemporary human circumstances . . . . I think when I’m making work it also often mirrors what’s going on with me at that time.”
KAWS's résumé reads like a record of major 21st-century pop-culture moments. It includes his work with streetwear brands like A Bathing Ape and Supreme; his design for the cover of Kanye West’s 2008 album, 808s & Heartbreak; and his collaboration with designer Kim Jones on the Dior Homme Spring/Summer 2019 collection, Jones’s debut as the fashion brand’s creative director.
Learn how to spot a fake KAWS art toy, and browse authentic KAWS prints, sculptures and mixed media works on 1stDibs.
- Andy Warhol Chelsea Girls 1966 (announcement)By (after) Andy WarholLocated in NEW YORK, NYAndy Warhol's Chelsea Girls / Andy Warhol Filmmakers' Cinemateque: Rare 1966 flyer published on the occasion of 2 screenings of Andy Warhol's Chelsea Girls at Filmmakers' Cinemateque...Category
1960s Pop Art More Art
MaterialsPaper, Offset
- Who Has a Better Right to Oppose the War (vintage Vietnam protest poster)By Richard AvedonLocated in NEW YORK, NYRichard Avedon, "Who Has a Better Right to Oppose the War?," Vintage original protest poster, 1969 A famous 1969 Richard Avedon illustrated poster against the Vietnam War. Avedon's picture depicts a handsome soldier wearing a formal US Army uniform...Category
1960s Pop Art Prints and Multiples
MaterialsOffset
- Andy Warhol Memorial St. Patricks Cathedral 1987 (Andy Warhol death 1987)By (after) Andy WarholLocated in NEW YORK, NYAndy Warhol Memorial Mass St. Patricks Cathedral, April 1, 1987, New York, NY (Andy Warhol death 1987): A set of 3 rare, historic cards announcing...Category
1970s Pop Art More Art
MaterialsOffset, Paper, Postcard, Lithograph
- Andy Warhol The Souper Dress (Andy Warhol Campbells)By Andy WarholLocated in NEW YORK, NYAndy Warhol The Souper Dress c. 1965-1967: Inspired by Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Cans, this dress was sold by the Campbell’s Soup Company in the late 19...Category
1960s Pop Art Prints and Multiples
MaterialsLithograph, Paper, Screen
- Andy Warhol Dies! Set of four 1987 NY Newspapers announcing Andy Warhol's deathBy (after) Andy WarholLocated in NEW YORK, NYAndy Warhol Dies! Set of four complete 1987 New York newspapers announcing Warhol's death. A rare, highly sought-after series that would look unique framed together as a collage. An ...Category
1980s Pop Art More Art
MaterialsPaper
- Warhol Reigning Queens announcement 1985 (Warhol Queen Elizabeth)By Andy WarholLocated in NEW YORK, NYAndy Warhol Reigning Queens 1985 announcement, featuring Queen Elizabeth: Vintage original announcement card for, Andy Warhol: Reigning Queens 1985 at Castelli Uptown, New York: Sept...Category
1980s Pop Art More Art
MaterialsLithograph, Offset
$380 Sale Price20% Off
- KAWS "What Party" Brooklyn Museum LIMITED EDITION Sculpture Contemporary StreetBy KAWSLocated in Draper, UTKAWS WHAT PARTY (orange): KAWS orange WHAT PARTY Companion featuring KAWS' CHUM character in a hunched position. Published to commemorate the debut of KAWS’ larger...Category
2010s Pop Art Still-life Sculptures
MaterialsVinyl
- KAWS Companion Flayed & Companion Editions Vinyl Figure Complete Set of 8 SealedBy KAWSLocated in Draper, UTPackage Dimensions 14.25 x 8.58 x 3.62 inches Item Weight 1.17 pounds Both Sculptures are in Pristine Condition and have been stored safely since 2016. The figures are both sealed ...Category
2010s Pop Art Abstract Sculptures
MaterialsVinyl
- KAWS Companion Flayed Edition & Companion Edition Vinyl Figure Blush Set SealedBy KAWSLocated in Draper, UTYuz Museum, Shanghai proudly announces a major survey exhibition of the work of Brooklyn-based artist KAWS (American, born 1974) on view at Yuz Museum, from March 28 to August 13, 20...Category
2010s Pop Art Abstract Sculptures
MaterialsVinyl
- Kobe Bryant Super BasketBall (One of a kind memorabilia W/ Turning Table)By Mauro OliveiraLocated in LOS ANGELES, CA**ANNUAL SUPER SALE TIL APRIL 25th ONLY** *This Price Won't Be Repeated Again This Year - Take Advantage Of It* 'Kobe Bryant Super Basketball' is THE one of a kind ...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art More Art
MaterialsResin, Plexiglass, Rubber, Glitter, Acrylic
$1,875 Sale Price25% Off - 5th Avenue A, Paper CutsBy David GersteinLocated in San Francisco, CA"5th Avenue A" is a hand painted cut paper wall sculpture by David Gerstein, an Israeli painter and sculptor. Edition of 150, signed and numbered. Born in 1944 in Jerusalem, Israel...Category
2010s Pop Art More Art
MaterialsPaper
Price Upon Request - Contemporary Spanish Artist, Pop Art Sculpture Big Gummy Bear Pink by Demo 2022Located in BARCELONA, ESEladio de Mora-Granados, dEmo, is one of the most original creators on the Spanish art scene. Born in Mora, Toledo, in 1960. A self-taught artist, dEmo's concerns began when he conc...Category
2010s Pop Art More Art
MaterialsResin, Fiberglass
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
How to Spot a Fake KAWS Figure
KAWS art toys have developed an avid audience in recent decades, and as in any robust collectible market, counterfeiters have followed the mania. Of course, you don’t have to worry about that on 1stDibs, where all our sellers are highly vetted.
KAWS Is Having a Major Effect on Popular Culture, Whether on the Street or in Museums
From graffiti tagger to hypebeast obsession to auction hero — we chart the artist’s rise and his widening influence.