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 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.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Boca Raton, FL
- Return PolicyThis item cannot be returned.
- 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
- 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
- "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
- "Untitled" bronze sculpture of seated female figure by artist Felipe CastañedaBy Felipe CastañedaLocated in Boca Raton, FL"Untitled" bronze sculpture of a female nude by artist Felipe Castañeda. Inscribed F. Castañeda 1984 P/A on base.Category
1980s Modern Figurative Sculptures
MaterialsBronze
- #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
- KAWS brown Companion 2016 & KAWS SEPARATED brown (set of 2 works)By KAWSLocated in NEW YORK, NYKAWS Brown Companion, 2016 & KAWS SEPARATED brown 2021, set of two individual works: This set features KAWS classic figurative sculpture, KAWS C...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Street Art Figurative Sculptures
MaterialsResin, Vinyl
- D*DOG GRIN (RON ENGLISH COLLABORATION)By D*FaceLocated in Aventura, FLD*Face x Ron English in collaboration. Painted vinyl sculpture. Edition on the underside. From the edition of 500. Certificate of Authenticity is included. Artwork is in excellent...Category
2010s Street Art Figurative Sculptures
MaterialsVinyl
- PATTY (SCULPTURE)Located in Aventura, FLMixed media sculpture. Printed artist signature and hand numbered on the underside of the sculpture. Signed and numbered certificate of authenticity by the artist. Includes origin...Category
2010s Street Art Figurative Sculptures
MaterialsVinyl
- Javier Calleja Mickey Mouse grey (Javier Calleja art toy)By Javier CallejaLocated in NEW YORK, NYJavier Calleja Little Mickey Grey: A standout limited edition Javier Calleja Mickey Mouse art toy created by the artist in conjunction with the noted 2021 J...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Street Art Figurative Sculptures
MaterialsGlass, Vinyl
- Hebru Brantley Flyboy (Hebru Brantley art toy)By Hebru BrantleyLocated in NEW YORK, NYHebru Brantley (Hebru Brantley art toy), 2017. New in its original packaging. Medium: Painted cast vinyl. Dimensions: 9 x 8 x 4 inches (22.9 x 20.3 x 10.2 cm). New and sealed in its original packaging. From a sold out edition of unknown; published by Hebru Brantley, Billionaire Boys Club & BAIT. Safely packed and shipped from New York. Artist Statement: "Flyboy came out of characters of colour within popular culture. I hate saying “popular culture,” but it’s really popular culture. I mean you look at cartoons. You’ve got animated sponges and ducks and birds and whatever, and it’s very rare to see a popular character within any medium that is African-American, Latino, even Asian. What I wanted to do was create that, but in a space of high art and be able to have some historical context to that character. So I looked at the Tuskegee Airmen...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Street Art Figurative Sculptures
MaterialsResin, Vinyl
- Hebru Brantley Gaia (Hebru Brantley Lil Mama as Gaia)By Hebru BrantleyLocated in NEW YORK, NYHebru Brantley GAIA (Hebru Brantley Lil Mama as Gaia): Hebru Brantley’s ethereal art toy features his much iconic, Lil Mama character as Gaia, the...Category
21st Century and Contemporary 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.