Family - brown/blue/white
View Similar Items
KAWSFamily - brown/blue/white2021
2021
About the Item
- Creator:KAWS (American)
- Creation Year:2021
- Dimensions:Height: 14 in (35.56 cm)Width: 12 in (30.48 cm)Depth: 6 in (15.24 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:Sold in mint condition, in (sealed) original publisher packaging as issued.
- Gallery Location:London, GB
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU160829801542
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.
- Rich AirwaysBy Alec MonopolyLocated in London, GBAlec Monopoly Rich Airways Year: 2021 Medium:Painted Cast Vinyl Dimension:18x14x13 inches / 46x36x33 cm Limited edition (of 250) Includes: Box + Certificate of Authenticity.Category
21st Century and Contemporary Street Art Figurative Sculptures
MaterialsVinyl
- Poopy Pants (Stop Being Poor) by Joan CorneliaLocated in London, GBVinyl sculpture, as new condition. Sold in original publisher box and packaging, as issued.Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Sculptures
MaterialsPlastic
- Untitled (Coca Cola) By AI WeiweiBy Ai WeiweiLocated in London, GBUntitled (Coca Cola) By AI Weiwei Ai Weiwei is a renowned Chinese contemporary artist and activist whose diverse body of work spans sculpture, installations, and social commentary...Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Sculptures
MaterialsPaper
- All Over Dot Plate by Damien HirstBy (after) Damien HirstLocated in London, GBAll Over Dot Plate by Damien Hirst 2022 Plate: 10 inch diameter (25.4 cm) Box: 13 x 13 inches Medium: English Fine Bone China, screen–printed with a vibrant Currency Dot design...Category
2010s Abstract Figurative Sculptures
MaterialsCeramic, Screen
- I Must Rest Now, My Rampage Is Over (Sculpture) By David ShrigleyBy David ShrigleyLocated in London, GBMust Rest My Rampage Is Over (Sculpture) By David Shrigley David Shrigley is a British artist known for his darkly humorous and satirical drawings, animations, and sculptures, ofte...Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Sculptures
MaterialsCeramic
- Peckham Rock by BanksyBy BanksyLocated in London, GBWood Sculpture 4.70 x 7.10 x 0.14 in 11.9 x 18.0 x 0.4 cm This edition is authorised by Pest Control / Banksy and was created for the British Museum as part of the iObject exhibit...Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Sculptures
MaterialsWood
- DENIAL 100% Fuck You Can Sculpture Edition 100 Urban Street Contemporary Art COABy DenialLocated in Draper, UTDENIAL is a Canadian artist whose work critiques consumerism and the human condition. Though based in Windsor Ontario, DENIAL spends much of the year travelling and exhibiting thro...Category
2010s Street Art Figurative Sculptures
MaterialsMetal
$1,400 Sale Price20% Off - The Future Has Been A Terrific Disappointment (2022)By RH DoazLocated in Jersey City, NJAerosol, oil and wood stain on reclaimed oak wood by street artist and muralist RH Doaz. Earth tones, metallic, folk art style, inspired by Hungarian textiles...Category
2010s Street Art Figurative Sculptures
MaterialsWood, Found Objects, Oil, Spray Paint
- Colors of the Real World 71 (2022)By RH DoazLocated in Jersey City, NJAerosol, oil and wood stain on reclaimed oak wood by street artist and muralist RH Doaz. Earth tones, metallic, folk art style, inspired by Hungarian textiles...Category
2010s Street Art Figurative Sculptures
MaterialsWood, Found Objects, Oil, Spray Paint
- Contemporary Buddha statue - Green Neon Plexiglass, X-LargeBy Tal NehorayLocated in New York, NYThis Green neon Buddha statue, is 2 layers of laser cut Plexiglas joined together by brass industrial elements. A unique Buddha sculpture, designed as an everyday reminder to live a compassionate and mindful life. Influenced by both urban industrial reality, and by Buddhist philosophy, this sculpture will add a touch of style and spirituality to any room, office, studio, spa or space. The X-Large meditating Buddha statue...Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Sculptures
MaterialsBrass
- yes no maybe - neon art workBy Mary Jo McGonagleLocated in New York, NYThis neon piece is hand blown glass. It is mounted on contoured, clear plexiglas with pre drilled holes for hanging, and comes ready to hang. This piece is offered in the following c...Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Sculptures
MaterialsPlexiglass, Neon Light
- Hello gorgeous - neon art workBy Mary Jo McGonagleLocated in New York, NYThis piece is offered in the following colors: White, ruby red, coral pink, violet, turquoise, emerald green, promo blue and light blue. When ordering please mention the desired colo...Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Sculptures
MaterialsPlexiglass, Neon Light
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.