KAWSKAWS Flayed Companion 2016 (KAWS brown flayed companion 2016)2016
2016
About the Item
- Creator:KAWS (American)
- Creation Year:2016
- Dimensions:Height: 11 in (27.94 cm)Width: 5 in (12.7 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:NEW YORK, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU35438512862
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.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: New York, NY
- Return PolicyThis item cannot be returned.
- Andy Warhol Last Supper Bearbrick 400% (Warhol BE@RBRICK 400%)By (after) Andy WarholLocated in NEW YORK, NYAndy Warhol Last Supper Bearbrick Vinyl Figures: Set of two (400% & 100%): A unique, timeless collectible trademarked & licensed by the Estate of Andy Warhol. The partnered collectible reveals Warhol's iconic Last Supper imagery wrapping the figure in its entirety. Housed in a standout Warhol collectors box. Sold out & out of print; scarce. Medium: Vinyl Figurine. Year: 2019. Set of two figurines. Dimensions of larger piece: 11 x 5 inches. Condition: New in its original packaging. Warhol foundation trademark featured on lower left of reverse. Published by Medicom from a sold out edition of unknown. Further Background: BE@RBRICKs are a form of collectible toy that resemble a cross between LEGO and well, a bear. These block-style figurines boast teddy bear-style heads that have become an integral pillar of the collectible toy scene. In fact, it wouldn’t be so far-fetched to say that it almost single-handedly carved out the fad of toy collecting in modern times, treading the very fine line between toy and art. Since its inception, BE@RBRICKs have become one of the most recognizable characters in the world, and some of the most sought after. Andy Warhol Last Supper: Executed just a year before Andy Warhol’s death in February 1987, the Last Supper is a powerful work touches upon the themes of mortality and religion - themes close to Warhol's heart. The idea for a group of works based on Leonardo’s Renaissance masterpiece was presented to Warhol in 1984 by Milan-based gallerist Alexander Iolas. Related Categories Andy Warhol. Pop Art. Art toys. Kaws. Hebru Brantley. Bears. Kids room. Warhol Mona Lisa. Jesus...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Abstract Sculptures
MaterialsResin, Vinyl
- KAWS Companion 2016: set of 4 works (KAWS companion set)By KAWSLocated in NEW YORK, NYKAWS Companion 2016: set of 4 works: KAWS Brown full body and flayed; & KAWS Red Blush full body & flayed, 2016 - each, new and sealed in their original packaging. These iconic KAWS figures...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Prints and Multiples
MaterialsResin, Vinyl
- Basquiat Bearbrick 400% set of 2 works (Warhol Basquiat BE@RBRICK 400%)By after Jean-Michel BasquiatLocated in NEW YORK, NYJean-Michel Basquiat & Andy Warhol Bearbrick Vinyl Figures: Set of two (400%): A unique, timeless collectible trademarked & licensed by the estates of Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy W...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Abstract Sculptures
MaterialsResin, Vinyl
- KAWS Brown GONE (KAWS GONE brown & blue)By KAWSLocated in NEW YORK, NYKAWS GONE (Brown), new & unopened in its original packaging. A well-received work and variation of KAWS' large scale GONE sculpture - a key highlight of KAWS’ recent exhibition, 'KAWS: Companionship in the Age of Loneliness...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Abstract Sculptures
MaterialsResin, Vinyl
- Basquiat Bearbrick 400% (set of 2 Basquiat BE@RBRICK)By after Jean-Michel BasquiatLocated in NEW YORK, NYJean-Michel Basquiat Bearbrick Vinyl Figures (400% & 100%): Set of 2: A unique Basquiat Bearbrick statue set trademarked & licensed by the Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. The partner...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Abstract Sculptures
MaterialsResin, Vinyl
- Basquiat Bearbrick 400% (set of 2 Basquiat BE@RBRICK)By after Jean-Michel BasquiatLocated in NEW YORK, NYJean-Michel Basquiat 400% Bearbrick Vinyl Figures Set of 2: A unique Basquiat Bearbrick statue set trademarked & licensed by the Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. The partnered collect...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Abstract Sculptures
MaterialsResin, Vinyl
- "Laptop", Abstract Patterns, Geometric Abstraction, Painted WoodblockLocated in Philadelphia, PAThis piece titled "Laptop" is an original piece by Alexis Nutini and is made from a painted woodblock. This piece measures 7.25"h x 9.5"w. Born in Mexico City, Alexis Nutini receiv...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Abstract Prints
MaterialsPanel, Acrylic
- Hair BoxBy Richard ArtschwagerLocated in New York, NY"Hair Box," 1990 (for Parkett 23) Paint on rubberized hair, wood backing, 10 x 15 x 5” (25,4 x 38 x 13 cm), Ed. 100/XX, signed and numbered A material common...Category
1990s Prints and Multiples
MaterialsRubber, Paint
- Geometrical CloudsBy Clifford SingerLocated in Henderson, NVLimited Edition of 10 sets. Laser cut steel with powder coat. “Geometrical Clouds” is reimagined as a major theme in my life’s work, with the earliest pieces of that name dating back...Category
2010s Surrealist Abstract Prints
MaterialsMetal
- Flipside, 2018, polyester cord, PVC rod, stainless steel, 96 x 42.5 x 17.5 inBy Daniel G. HillLocated in Darien, CTIn recent years, Daniel G. Hill has been fixated on the work’s method of construction and its physical presence. During the winter of 2014, he began a new line of inquiry, translati...Category
2010s Minimalist Abstract Sculptures
MaterialsStainless Steel
- Dishtowel Fold, 2018, polyester cord, PVC rod, stainless steel, 94.5 x 49 x26 inBy Daniel G. HillLocated in Darien, CTIn recent years, Daniel G. Hill has been fixated on the work’s method of construction and its physical presence. During the winter of 2014, he began a new line of inquiry, translati...Category
2010s Minimalist Abstract Sculptures
MaterialsStainless Steel
- Daniel G. Hill, Sling, 2016, stainless steel wire, music wire, 34 x 24 x 15 inBy Daniel G. HillLocated in Darien, CTIn recent years, Daniel G. Hill has been fixated on the work’s method of construction and its physical presence. During the winter of 2014, he began a new line of inquiry, translati...Category
2010s Minimalist Abstract Sculptures
MaterialsStainless Steel, Wire
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.