KAWSKAWS Family (Black)2021
2021
About the Item
- Creator:KAWS (American)
- Creation Year:2021
- Dimensions:Height: 13.39 in (34 cm)Width: 13.39 in (34 cm)Depth: 7.88 in (20 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:Bristol, GB
- Reference Number:
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: Bristol, United Kingdom
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 3 days of delivery.
- Companion Flayed (Mono)By KAWSLocated in Bristol, GBPainted Cast Vinyl Open edition Stamped on the underside of feet Excellent, minor production issue with height. Some minor imperfections may exist due to the nature of the material...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Sculptures
MaterialsPlastic, Vinyl
- What Party - Chum (Black)By KAWSLocated in Bristol, GBPainted Cast Vinyl Open edition Stamped on the underside of the feet New, as issued, with slight manufacturing fault (front of left foot, 0.5cm) Some minor imperfections may exist gi...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Sculptures
MaterialsVinyl, Plastic
- Pinocchio & Jiminy CricketBy KAWSLocated in Bristol, GBPainted cast vinyl Edition of 500 (reported) 26 x 13.5 x 12 / 5.7 x 3 x 2.5 cm (10.2 x 5.3 x 4.7 / 2.2 x 1.2 x 1.1 in) Not signed or numbered Excellent, very minor scratch to Pinocch...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Sculptures
MaterialsPlastic, Vinyl
- What Party - Chum (Pink)By KAWSLocated in Bristol, GBPainted Cast Vinyl Open edition Stamped on the underside of the feet New, as issued. Some minor imperfections may exist given the nature of the material Sold in the original packagingCategory
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Sculptures
MaterialsPlastic, Vinyl
- What Party - Chum (Yellow)By KAWSLocated in Bristol, GBPainted Cast Vinyl Open edition Stamped by the artist's estate New, as issued. Some minor imperfections may exist given the nature of the material Sold in the original packagingCategory
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Sculptures
MaterialsPlastic, Vinyl
- Passing Through (Black)By KAWSLocated in Bristol, GBPainted cast vinyl Edition of 500 (unnumbered, reported) Stamped on the underside of foot New, as issued. Some minor imperfections may exist given the nature of the material. Sold in...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Sculptures
MaterialsPlastic, Vinyl
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- Round, soft-green, ceramic "Roly Poly" by Bethany KrullBy Bethany KrullLocated in Buffalo, NYThis soft, green, ceramic sculptural depiction of a Roly Poly insect by New York artist Bethany Krull is both playful and sophisticated. The piece is hand-built, without the use of ...Category
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- SnowmanBy Gary HumeLocated in New York, NYGary Hume Snowman 2006 18-karat white gold on 20-inch chain with artist’s display stand 16 x 12 x 12 inches; 41 x 30 x 30 cm Edition of 25 Stamped with artist's initials, hallmark, m...Category
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- Schlange / SnakeBy Katharina FritschLocated in New York, NYKatharina Fritsch Schlange / Snake 1999/2001 Plastic, paint 7/8 x 7 1/2 x 3 3/8 inches; 2 x 19 x 9 cm Edition of 240 Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity signed and numbered ...Category
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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.