KAWS Chum Vinyl Figure (20th Anniversary) Yellow
View Similar Items
KAWSKAWS Chum Vinyl Figure (20th Anniversary) Yellow2022
2022
About the Item
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.
- Marilyn Portrait (Red)By Russell YoungLocated in Washington, DCArtist: Russell Young Title: Marilyn Portrait (Red) Portfolio: Marilyn Portrait Medium: Hand-pulled acrylic and enamel silkscreen on paper Date: 2014 Edition: 25/25 Sheet Size: 27" x...Category
2010s Pop Art Portrait Prints
MaterialsEnamel
- Mick JaggerBy Peter MaxLocated in Washington, DCArtist: Peter Max Title: Mick Jagger Medium: Acrylic on serigraph Date: 1994 Edition: One of a kind Sheet Size: 45" x 31 1/2" Signature: Hand signed "MAX" in acrylic (upper right); p...Category
1990s Contemporary Portrait Paintings
MaterialsAcrylic, Screen
- Annabelle NueBy Jean FautrierLocated in Washington, DCArtist: Jean Fautrier Title: Annabelle Nue Medium: Pochoir in Gouache Date: 1957 Edition: 1500 Sheet Size: 12 1/2" x 9 3/4 Signature: UnsignedCategory
1950s Abstract Prints
MaterialsGouache
- Paper Glue on Blue BackgroundBy Alberto MagnelliLocated in Washington, DCArtist: Alberto Magnelli Title: Paper Glue on Blue Background Medium: Pochoir in Gouache Date: 1957 Edition: 1500 Sheet Size: 12 1/2" x 9 3/4 Signature...Category
1950s Abstract Prints
MaterialsGouache
- Red and Black SurfaceLocated in Washington, DCArtist: Giuseppe Capogrossi (After) Title: Red and Black Surface Medium: Pochoir in Gouache Date: 1957 Edition: 1500 Sheet Size: 12 1/2" x 9 3/4 Signature: UnsignedCategory
1950s Abstract Prints
MaterialsGouache
- Life is Beautiful (Pink)By Mr. BrainwashLocated in Washington, DCArtist: Mr. Brainwash Title: Life is Beautiful (Pink) Medium: Coated metal sculpture Date: 2022 Edition: 22/50 Size: 7" x 10 1/2" x 2 1/2" Signature: Hand signed, numbered, and dated...Category
2010s Street Art Sculptures
MaterialsMetal
- Ultra Lumen OGBy Hebru BrantleyLocated in Toronto, CABolder then you expect, this unique sculpture created by Hebru Brantley is exclusive OG/AP addition and is a stunningly fun pop art resin Sculpture with an LED light that comes with detachable cord allowing the piece to be displayed with or without the cord attached. Surprisingly larger then it seems in photos this sculpture is 40.6 x 33 x 39.4cm making it a stand out piece in anyone's collection. This is an AP (Artist Proof) of an addition of only 10 created so it is not only limited, it's rare. The Ultra Lumen...Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Sculptures
MaterialsVinyl, Resin
- Complete Set of the "Changbai Mountain" KAWS Sculptures in 3 Colorways KoreaBy KAWSLocated in Draper, UTReleased as a special edition in Korea in conjunction with the Snowy Mountain installation (pictured) Set of 3 Sculptures in Original Packaging and Sealed Unused, Undisplayed, and Au...Category
2010s Figurative Sculptures
MaterialsVinyl
- Humans Are A VirusLocated in Dallas, TXThought-provoking, honest and incredibly entertaining, Cornellà's work is truly since-re and holds real potency in its message, even when disguised through blatant humor. In the arti...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Figurative Sculptures
MaterialsVinyl, Resin
- 2019 "Along the Way" Brown Set of Two Vinyl KAWS Figures from Medicom Toy Corp.By KAWSLocated in Boca Raton, FLSet of two brown painted vinyl figures from KAWS' (a.k.a. Brian Donnelly's) 2019 open edition "Along the Way" release. In original box from Medicom Toy Corp.Category
2010s Street Art Figurative Sculptures
MaterialsVinyl
- 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
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.