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 creates all kinds of art — there are KAWS figures and toys, sculptures and colorful drawings, 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 KAWS statues and other 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 figures, prints, sculptures and mixed media works on 1stDibs.
KAWS - Unique Cloud Drawing, Hand signed and inscribed Framed Pop Street artist
By KAWS
Located in New York, NY
KAWS Cloud Drawing done in white marker on colored paper, 2010 Signed, dated and inscribed to Tim in white marker Floated and framed in a museum quality white wood frame with UV plex...
Paper, Permanent Marker
Paris Cloud Drawing (signed and inscribed to David) unique work on colored paper
By KAWS
Located in New York, NY
KAWS Cloud Drawing done in white marker on colored paper, 2010 Signed, dated and inscribed to David in white marker with a dateline of Paris Floated and framed in a white wood frame ...
Paper, Permanent Marker
Unique Cloud Drawing, hand signed, dated and inscribed to Caroline, in monograph
By KAWS
Located in New York, NY
KAWS Unique Cloud Drawing, inscribed to Caroline Original drawing done in silver marker. Hand signed, inscribed and dated. Held in hardback monograph 11 × 8 3/4 inches Boldly hand s...
Permanent Marker, Offset
$680Sale Price|20% Off
H 12 in W 8 in D 0.25 in
The Sketch Class, Figurative Study Line Drawing
By David Rosen (b.1912)
Located in Soquel, CA
Expressive line drawing figure study featuring a group of figures in a classroom by David Rosen (Canadian, 1912-2004). Unsigned, but was acquire...
Paper, Pen, Watercolor
$7,500
H 37 in W 30 in
Vibrant Alan Davie Scottish Colorful Surrealist British Pop Art Village Painting
By Alan Davie
Located in Surfside, FL
Alan Davie, Scotland (1920-2014). Gouache painting with watercolor 'Village Myth' Hand signed ('with love') lower left, 1982 Dimensions: with frame 37.5"H x 30.25"W; image, 28"H x 22.5"W. James Alan Davie (1920 – 2014) was a Scottish painter and musician. Davie was born in Grangemouth, Scotland in 1920, the son of Elizabeth (née Turnbull) and James William Davie, an art teacher and painter who exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Français in 1925. During this formative period Davie discovered the poetry of Walt Whitman and T.S. Eliot, whose prose is echoed in letters home as well as his own verses. Alan Davie studied at Edinburgh College of Art from 1937 to 1941. An early exhibition of his work came through the Society of Scottish Artists. After the Second World War, Davie played tenor saxophone in the Tommy Sampson Orchestra, which was based in Edinburgh and broadcast and toured in Europe. He also earned a living making jewellery during the postwar period. Davie began teaching basic design in the jewellery department at London’s Central School of Arts and Crafts led by the Scottish artist William Johnstone, where colleagues included artists Nigel Henderson, Eduardo Paolozzi, Richard Hamilton and Patrick Heron. In 1961, Davie’s jewellery was featured in The International Exhibition of Modern Jewellery at London’s Goldsmith’s Hall, a milestone in the history of jewellery making in Britain where an impressive roster of international and British artists including Alexander Calder, Naum Gabo, Victor Pasmore and John McHale...
Paper, Watercolor, Gouache
$252Sale Price|20% Off
H 11.42 in W 7.88 in
Spanish Expressionist Marker Drawing of Ballet Dancers and Theater Scene
By Ignacio Gil Sala
Located in Sitges, Barcelona
Spanish Expressionist Marker Drawing of Ballet Dancers and Theater Scene Artist: Ignacio Gil Sala (1913–2003) Title: Untitled (Ballet and Theater Sketches) Date: circa 1985 Medium: ...
Permanent Marker
Untitled (Woman In Dress)
Located in New York, NY
J.Rennell, "Untitled: Woman in Dress", Figurative Pen and Ink Drawing signed on Paper, 6 x 4 (13.50 x 10.50 Framed), Mid to Late 20th C...
Ink, Pen
Two Drawings
By Louis Valtat
Located in New York, NY
Group of two drawings. "Femme assise sur une Chaise," circa 1910. Brush and ink on wove paper, 8 1/2x8 inches. With the artist's initials ink stamp, lower right recto. "Femme avec ...
Ink, Pen
$1,240Sale Price|20% Off
H 30 in W 22.25 in D 0.03 in
White and Gold Lace Kimono - Hand Augmented Collotype
By Patricia A. Pearce
Located in Soquel, CA
Hand-augmented collotype by Patricia A. Pearce (American, b. 1948). Signed "Patricia A. Pearce" in the lower right corner. This piece has an iridescent quality to the coloration. No ...
Paper, Ink, Pen, Color Pencil
$300
H 12 in W 12 in D 2.5 in
The sprinkling of defiled persons (drawing): Contemporary Graphite and Ink
By Hunter Stabler
Located in Philadelphia, PA
This is an original drawing on paper by Hunter Stabler measuring 12”h x 12”w x 2.5”d framed. The piece is made from graphite, ink, transfer paper and Gelly Roll® pen on paper. Hunter Stabler was born in Jefferson City, Missouri and was raised in upstate South Carolina. He received a BFA in painting from The Maryland Institute, College of Art and an MFA in painting from the University of Pennsylvania. He is currently pursuing an MFA in Digital Art at Louisiana State University. His work has been widely exhibited across the United States and internationally including exhibitions at the Morbid Anatomy Museum in Brooklyn, NY, The Shelburne Art Museum in Shelburne, VT, the Hunterdon Art Museum in Clinton, NJ, and the Islip Art Museum in East Islip, NY. His hand-cut paper artwork has been published in the books High Touch: Tactile Design and Visual Explorations, Push Paper, Strangers in the Nest (a book of Poems by Anselm Berrigan, Letterpress printed with images accompanying each poem), and published in Laminate Magazine, First Look Magazine, and American Craft Magazine. He was named “Philadelphia’s Next Hot...
Paper, Ink, Ballpoint Pen, Graphite
$700Sale Price|20% Off
H 28 in W 22.25 in D 0.03 in
Ruffled Kimono (Orange, Teal, and Purple)
By Patricia A. Pearce
Located in Soquel, CA
Delicate kimono by Patricia A. Pearce (American, b. 1948). This piece has an iridescent quality to the coloration. This piece is unsigned, but was acquired with a collection of other...
Paper, Pen, Color Pencil, Gouache
$3,500
H 7.5 in W 5.5 in
"Saw Tooth" 1964, Pop-Art, Colorful, Mid-Century, Yellow and Purple
By Robert Indiana
Located in New York, NY
Robert Indiana Saw Tooth, 1964 Signed lower left, dated lower right, titled upper left Colored Marker on the reverse of an Al Brundelle poster fragment 7 1/2 x 5 1/2 inches Robert ...
Paper, Permanent Marker
$975
H 19 in W 21.75 in D 1 in
Heart, Original Drawing, Hand Signed, Dedicated on Verso, Pop Art, Framed
By Romero Britto
Located in Aventura, FL
Original drawing on paper. Hand signed lower front by Romero Britto. Remarqued - dedicated and hand signed on frame verso by Romero Britto. Sheet size: 9 x 12 inches. Frame size:...
Paper, Permanent Marker
$2,850
H 20 in W 15 in D 0.25 in
Pen and Ink Drawing of Two Men Embracing
Located in San Francisco, CA
On offer is a striking example of modern figurative abstraction, likely dating from the late 20th century. This work explores themes of identity, duality, and spiritual connection th...
Paper, Ink, Pen
$1,320Sale Price|20% Off
H 30 in W 22.25 in D 0.03 in
"Red Medusa Mantle" (Ruffled Kimono) - Hand Augmented Collotype
By Patricia A. Pearce
Located in Soquel, CA
Hand-augmented collotype on layered paper by Patricia A. Pearce (American, b. 1948). Signed "Patricia A. Pearce" in the lower right corner. Titled "Red Medusa...
Paper, Ink, Pen, Color Pencil
No title
By KAWS
Located in Tel Aviv - Jaffa, IL
Original black marker drawing on a page of the book : Companionship in the age of loneliness Handsigned, dated in 2019 and dedicated " To David " The drawing and the book are in m...
Ink