Kaws
Contents
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Who is Kaws?
Kaws in the streets and the museum
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Companions
Kaws and collaboration
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DIOR COLLABORATION
? KAWS is today the greatest icon - in life - of street art that was able to break all the barriers that Someone not founded within the galleries could have broken, collaborations with various brands and organizations make this character one of the most important names in the contemporary art scene.
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Brian Donnelly (New Jersey, 1974), also known as KAWS, is the artist who stars on the cover of JOIA 42. Although many judge him and refer to him as “sold” (for marketing and displaying his creations as if they were works of art despite his street origins), there is no doubt that his professional career is full of recognized successes. We refer to Calvin Klein’s iconic ads, in which he fused fashion and graffiti, to the cover of Kanye West’s album “808s & Heartbreak”, to his reinvention of the Michelin man or the VMA’s awards statuette, to the globe dedicated to the death of Mickey Mouse (the one who paraded for Macy’s), and a long list of projects that have kept him on everyone’s lips for decades. KAWS began in the world of graffiti by painting on advertisements, which he considered to be public spaces. The same agencies that created these pieces noticed him and began to contract his services. Since then he has exhibited his paintings and sculptures at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, has participated in cartoon series such as SpongeBob, Daria or The Simpsons, has designed sneakers of the best-known brands, and has collaborated with international artists such as Takashi Murakami. His most famous pop-style sculptures are currently on display at Yorkshire Sculpture Park in northern England, and they sell for millions of dollars at the most exclusive auctions.
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any more in the art industry, and that is why we “put it on our pedestal� for a few moments, to dedicate the most precious thing we have: The cover of JOIA # 42.
08 opening the debate on the democratization of art. Those who criticize him for straying from his origins, or those who attack him for entering vetoed territory, should reread our own history and remember Art Noveau, Pop Art and even Da Vinci, to know that change and transgression , are fundamental points in this discipline. From JOIA we consider his art in a museum as one more intervention by the artist, one more disarticulation of contemporary iconographic discourse, an ironic twist and very well used (economically, of course). In addition, its versatility in the media indicates that it will not be a one-hit wonder
In the late 1990s, KAWS began designing and producing limited edition vinyl toys. More toys and clothing was created for Original Fake, a then-emerging store in collaboration with Medicom Toy, in the Aoyama district of Tokyo, where an original limited edition of a product is released every week. KAWS also participated in other commercial collaborations alongside music producer Nigo for clothing brand A Bathing Ape, with Jun Takahashi for Undercover and with Michael Neumann for Kung Faux. He was also invited to design snowboards for Burton and sneakers for Nike and Vans. In August 2010, he created a limited edition of bottles for the Mexican Dos Equis beer. Acrylic paintings and sculptures made by KAWS contain many recurring images, all with the purpose of being universally understood, regardless of language or culture. One of the first KAWS series, Package Paintings, was made in 2000. Another series, titled The Kimpsons, showed an altered version of the popular television series The Simpsons. Other popular icons that have been modified by KAWS are Mickey Mouse, the Michelin Man, the Smurfs, and SpongeBob.
Donnelly studied at the School of Visual Arts in New York, and after graduating he traveled to Tokyo, where the new cultural trend of art toy was brewing. In an interview with The New York Times’ T Magazine, KAWS said his interest in getting involved in the world of designer toys was fueled by admiration for Tom Wesselmann and Claes Oldenburg and their pop art screen prints that later became monumental sculptures. “I always saw making sculptures as unattainable. So when the idea of making a toy came, it was the only way I could see my work in three dimensions, “he told the magazine.
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11 Companions His most representative piece is the Companions, beings with the body of Mickey Mouse, skull head and cross eyes. The first was introduced in 1999 with a somewhat different look than we know it now, it had slimmer legs and a prominent abdomen. Five years later, KAWS designed a special 13-inch edition, with a more uniform body and a slightly more “tired� posture. For 2006, the artist joined the Japanese company Medicom Toy to create Original Fake, a brand that would market KAWS toys, as well as illustrations, accessories, stickers, prints and clothing designed by hi
KAWS Gone
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Figure Grey
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KAWS HOLIDAY JAPAN Vinyl Figure Brown
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KAWS Clean Slate
Vinyl Figure Grey
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KAWS Passing Through
Open Edition Vinyl Figure Grey
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Kaws and collaboration
In 2019, Paris Fashion Week saw Dior designer Kim Jones debut his Spring/Summer 2019 collection with a KAWS interpretation of the fashion house’s iconic bee design, set against the backdrop of a 33-ft tall pink flower sculpture of KAWS’s ‘BFF’ character, reproduced as an editioned toy in a mini Dior suit.
24 After successfully launching his own fashion label, Original Fake, in the early 2000s, KAWS began working with a number of cult streetwear labels, including Bathing Ape and Supreme. In 2008 he designed the cover for Kanye West’s much feted album 808s & Heartbreak, and more recently he has developed his own pair of Nike Air Jordans.
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The record-setting painting is a parody of a parody: It recreates The Yellow Album, The Simpsons’ take on the Beatles’ famous 1967 album cover for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, which replaced the original figures with characters from the animated series. KAWS—whose real name is Brian Donnelly—takes the appropriation to the next level with his “Kimpsons” characters, which have the artist’s signature Xs drawn across their eyes and skull and crossbones heads. “Brian has made it to the top and is one of the most famous contemporary artists in the world, which makes me so happy,” NIGO told Sotheby’s. The collector met KAWS in 1996 and became an early supporter of his work.
In 2018, Kim Jones launched his first collection for Dior Homme by partnering with the street artist KAWS. A 22-foot-tall sculpture of KAWS’s signature BFF character—adorned with thousands of pink roses—loomed over Dior’s show at Paris Fashion Week, and models walked the catwalk carrying plush toy versions of the figure. Clad in Baby Dior suiting, these plush toys were also given as gifts for guests of the runway show—and celebrities like Victoria Beckham, Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss, Kim Kardashian, A$AP Rocky, and Bella Hadid all took photographs with the Elmo-like creatures. In 2019, KAWS and Dior released two limited edition versions of these toys to the public—a pink BFF in a black suit and a black BFF in a denim jacket— which sold out at the original retail price of $7,500 and quickly found their way to the secondary market. The collaboration between KAWS and Dior also includes sweatshirts, keychains, socks, pins, and other wearable items, bridging together the worlds of high fashion and street art. Having tapped the U.S. artist to design a 33-foot-tall, clown-like figure made up of 70,000 flowers for his debut men’s show for the brand in June, artistic director Kim Jones decided to also feature the sculpture, representing founder Christian Dior, in his first advertising campaign for the French luxury house.
Shot by Steven Meisel, the images feature models in looks ranging from relaxed tailoring to upscale sportswear and more casual items embroidered with cartoon bees, part of a capsule collection designed with Kaws — real name Brian Donnelly — that will drop in stores in December as a taster for the spring collection. An image from the first ad campaign by men’s artistic director Kim Jones for Dior. Steven Meisel Among them is Prince Nikolai of Denmark, who in one image wears the look in which he opened the show: a blue-and-white suit with striped sleeves. The other models are Valentin Caron, Romaine Dixon, Malick Bodian and Lukas G. “I wanted the advertising to reflect the spirit of the men’s summer show and the beauty of Dior,” Jones said. “I’ve always wanted to work with Kaws, I think he’s super chic and also his work speaks to a lot of people.” The campaign, slated to break on Oct. 31 in leading magazines, was art directed by Ronnie Cooke Newhouse, with styling by Melanie Ward, makeup by Pat McGrath and hair by Guido Palau. Digital images were shot by Annie Powers, and the accompanying campaign video was filmed by Jackie Nickerson.
DIOR
COLLABORATION
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A new collaboration between the artist KAWS (Brian Donnelly) and star designers Humberto and Fernando Campana turns stuffed animals into plush furniture. At Friedman Benda’s booth at Design Miami/, the trio is exhibiting a playful new line of chairs and sofas. Each piece consists of a simple metal armature, overlaid with a sewn-together assortment of about 75 to 120 of KAWS’s iconic soft toys. The furry friends each feature two white, crossed-out eyeballs; a pink button nose; dangling arms and legs; and a “KAWS” signature stitched into one foot. Four thin wooden legs protrude at the bottom—spindly, slanted, and rounded at the end The concept came together seamlessly, says Friedman Benda founder Marc Benda. According to him, KAWS already owned a few pieces by the Campana brothers, including a fuzzy “Bolotas” chair and a couch made from leather teddy bears. Indeed, the Campanas have created an entire series of furniture from stuffed animals (pandas; a menagerie of sharks, lions, tigers, and alligators) since the early 2000s. KAWS wanted to merge their designs with his limited-edition toys. He commissioned the brothers to make a prototype for him, in blue. “This was all a very straightforward and super friendly collaboration,” says Benda. “The outcome was so cool that both sides decided to do something they could share with the public.” In recent years, of course, brands ranging from Uniqlo to Air Jordan have commissioned KAWS as a collaborator—his bold, Pop-inspired aesthetic has attracted a diverse group of enthusiasts with
a wide range of budgets. The Brazilian-born, São Paulo–based brothers are fixtures in the world of fine design, who have also veered into fashion and set design. The Museum of Modern Art owns five of their works, including their well-known Vermelha chair (1993), whose seat and back are made from tangled red cord. “When we first met KAWS, we understood his ability to tell those stories, that you will always remember,” Humberto Campana offered via a statement from the gallery. “KAWSxCampana created a common story of referring to memories of childhood, affection and well being. We are both storytellers.” The three pieces on view had all sold out by Thursday afternoon. According to Benda, there’s already significant overlap between KAWS fans and Campana collectors—they jumped at the opportunity to purchase work that united the talents. Though he wouldn’t disclose the names of the purchasers, Benda did offer that the chairs and sofas will “go to pretty amazing homes.
KAWS and the Campana Brothers Join Forces at Design Miami
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