KAWS Artist Research

New York-based Brian Donnelly, better known as KAWS, is an artist and sculptor living and working in Brooklyn. Over the past two decades, KAWS has grown to be recognised worldwide with his ability to communicate and relate popular imagery, advertising and art history through sculpture and characters. I found out about KAWS during my first year of college shortly after visiting Yorkshire Sculpture Park and have followed hi on Instagram ever since, seeing how he dominates locations with his sculptures placed in cities like New York and Hong Kong- a bit like he's adding a personal stamp or building an army! 

KAWS at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, books I picked up in the park

As a teenager, he enjoyed using graffiti to express himself and put his name out there, drawing on bridges and freight trains which soon turned to billboard advertisements on a larger, more recognisable scale. During the mid-nineties in New York and while studying at the School of Visual Arts, KAWS became renowned for reinventing street art. I'm not a fan of graffiti artists who use graffiti as an excuse to plaster their name across cities but KAWS took a different approach. Instead, he created artwork that worked alongside the original advertisements by removing them from bus stops and phone booths, taking them home and adding something recognisable. Whether it was a character weaving around a Dior model or overlaying his characters faces onto photos, it was enough to stop people and make them question what it was or whether it was meant to look like that. I think he wanted to be recognised for unconventionally going about things and found enjoyment in making people confused, in many ways that hasn't changed, instead it has identified his trademark style. 

KAWS is heavily influenced by Japanese art, as seen in his love for creating large, toy-like sculptures like 'Companion', produced in Tokyo in the 1990s as the first of many. In addition to sculpture, his talents originate from a natural talent for painting, his paintings are amazing, combining bright pop-art inspired colours with a KAWS twist on popular and iconic characters, such as Mickey Mouse, Elmo and the Cookie Monster. Inspired by Kieth Haring, his artwork is based on communication, you can tell he wants to make an impact, whether it has social or cultural reference, I think its created for the people viewing it. 

AT THIS TIME, 2013

ALONG THE WAY, 2013, in Artzuid, Amsterdam

I was asked to research commercial artists and I think KAWS embodies many aspects of how art can be commercialised, used both in advertising but still feels unique and innovative. He's previously worked with brands such as Uniqlo, creating a range of graphic t-shirts (many of which I have!), inserting himself into high streets and making his art accessible for everyone. This has also helped him engage and grow his following, by making his work current and relatable. I read an interview with an interesting viewpoint on commercialising art in relation to KAWS that I thought was quite significant:

"KAWS extends the legacy of Pop art, shifting the old rules of art, of its production, dissemination and engagement, drawing on popular culture and blurring the boundaries between art, product, fashion and design." 

-KAWS in Yorkshire, Clare Lilley

GOOD INTENTIONS, 2015

Unfortunately, I didn't know about KAWS until after his exhibition in Yorkshire Sculpture Park in 2016 but would love to see his work in person. The exhibition, shown in the photos on this post, included a vast array of sculptures made from Afromosia wood, aluminium or bronze, each placed around the open-air landscape. You can tell they're made to such a high quality with each curve perfectly smooth, adding to their beauty- and protecting them from harsh weather conditions!

His first sculpture, Companion Passing Through (2010), is located in Harbour City, Hong Kong. Here it stands 5-meters high, with his head and shoulders slumped, hands covering his eyes in embarrassment. This stance contradicts the usual atmosphere created by subjects or people expressing an air of authority or hierarchy. To me, they seem quite sorrowful, making the audience feel a deeper connection as they can't figure out why they're presented in this unconventional way. Maybe this is another one of KAWS methods of disruption, to evoke curiosity and make people wonder why sculptures should look a certain way. 

In a way, they are an expression of himself and feeling out of place in society. In an interview he talked about seeing the exhibition space for his sculpture in Hong Kong and thinking, 'God if I had to sit out here, I would just be mortified if this many people walked past me', so the sculpture is representative of this feeling! In summary, KAWS is a great example of how to bridge the gap between commercialising and exhibitions work which is why he's so successful and recognised worldwide.

SURVIVAL MACHINE, 2015

FINAL DAYS, 2013