KAWS2019 "Along the Way" Brown Set of Two Vinyl KAWS Figures from Medicom Toy Corp.2019
2019
About the Item
- Creator:KAWS (American)
- Creation Year:2019
- Dimensions:Height: 10.5 in (26.67 cm)Width: 9 in (22.86 cm)Depth: 5 in (12.7 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:Boca Raton, FL
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU155428852412
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: Boca Raton, FL
- Return PolicyThis item cannot be returned.
- KAWS 2019 "Along the Way" Gray Set of two vinyl figures from Medicom Toy Corp.By KAWSLocated in Boca Raton, FL"Along the Way" set of two gray painted vinyl figures from open edition released in 2019 by artist KAWS (a.k.a. Brian Donnelly) in original box from Medico...Category
2010s Street Art Figurative Sculptures
MaterialsVinyl
- KAWS 2019 "Along the Way" Black Set Open Edition from Medicom Toy Corp.By KAWSLocated in Boca Raton, FLSet of two black vinyl figures in original box from KAWS' (a.k.a. Brian Donnelly) 2019 open edition release of "Along the Way." Never removed from box.Category
2010s Street Art Figurative Sculptures
MaterialsVinyl
- 2019 Companion Blush Set of two vinyl figures by KAWS from Medicom Toy Corp.By KAWSLocated in Boca Raton, FLCompanion Blush Set of two painted vinyl figures in original packaging from Medicom Toy Corp. From KAWS' (a.k.a. Brian Donnelly's) open edition release in 2019.Category
2010s Street Art Figurative Sculptures
MaterialsVinyl
- "Pair of Lovers" 9.25" bronze sculpture on wooden base by Moshe SternschussLocated in Boca Raton, FL"Pair of Lovers" bronze sculpture on wooden base of male and female seated figures by artist Moshe Sternschuss. Signature Sternschuss and edition number 153/200 inscribed on side of ...Category
20th Century Contemporary Figurative Sculptures
MaterialsBronze
- "2 by Sea" gallery-wrapped acrylic on canvas painting by artist John CRASH MatosBy John Crash MatosLocated in Boca Raton, FL"2 by Sea" gallery-wrapped acrylic on canvas painting by street artist John "CRASH" Matos. Signed "2 by Sea" 2/2003 J Crash Matos on back. CRO 333 written on stretcher bar.Category
Early 2000s Street Art Portrait Paintings
MaterialsCanvas, Acrylic
- #2 gallery-wrapped acrylic on canvas painting by street artist John CRASH MatosBy John Crash MatosLocated in Boca Raton, FL"#2" gallery-wrapped acrylic on canvas painting by street artist John "CRASH" Matos. Numbered on back upper left corner.Category
Early 2000s Street Art Abstract Paintings
MaterialsCanvas, Acrylic
- Break The Bank (Black Ed. - Swarovski / 600)Located in Dallas, TX“Art by Bankrupt” is a contemporary mixed-media artist originally from Central Florida. ... In an all-or-nothing play, Art by Bankrupt took a gamble an...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Street Art Figurative Sculptures
MaterialsVinyl, PVC, Plastic
- Keith Haring Bearbrick 400% Companion (Haring BE@RBRICK)By (after) Keith HaringLocated in NEW YORK, NYKeith Haring Bearbrick Vinyl Figures: Set of two (400% & 100%): A unique, timeless collectible trademarked & licensed by the Estate of Keith Haring. The partnered collectible reveals...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Street Art Figurative Sculptures
MaterialsVinyl, Resin
- Keith Haring Bearbrick 400% companion (Haring Mickey Mouse BE@RBRICK)By (after) Keith HaringLocated in NEW YORK, NYKeith Haring Mickey Mouse Bearbrick: Set of two (400% & 100%): A unique, timeless collectible trademarked & licensed by the Estate of Keith Haring. The partnered collectible reveals ...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Street Art Figurative Sculptures
MaterialsResin, Vinyl
- Hebru Brantley Flyboy (Hebru Brantley art toy)By Hebru BrantleyLocated in NEW YORK, NYHebru Brantley Flyboy Pop Art Sculpture / Hebru Brantley Beyond the Beyond, 2018. New in its original packaging. Medium: Painted cast vinyl. Dimensions: 9 x 8 x 4 inches (22.9 x 20...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Street Art Figurative Sculptures
MaterialsVinyl, Resin
- KAWS Companions 2016: set of 2 (KAWS brown companions)By KAWSLocated in NEW YORK, NYBrown KAWS Companions: Set of 2. Each, new and sealed in their original packaging. Published by Medicom Japan in conjunction with the exhibition, KAWS: Where The End Starts at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth in 2016. These figurines have since sold out. Medium: Vinyl paint, cast resin. Year: 2016. Dimensions: 11 × 5 × 3 in (applies to each individual) New/unopened; excellent condition. Stamped by artist on underside of each foot; from an edition of unknown. KAWS A leading artist of his generation, Brooklyn-based KAWS engages audiences beyond the museums and galleries in which he regularly exhibits. KAWS is perhaps best known for his iconic character, Companion, which is featured in key paintings, sculptures, products, and toy figures...Category
2010s Street Art Figurative Sculptures
MaterialsResin, Vinyl
- Keith Haring Bearbrick 400% figure (Haring BE@RBRICK)By (after) Keith HaringLocated in NEW YORK, NYKeith Haring Bearbrick Vinyl Figures: Set of two (400% & 100%): A unique, timeless collectible trademarked & licensed by the Estate of Keith Haring. T...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Street Art Figurative Sculptures
MaterialsResin, Vinyl
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.