KAWS
KAWS (Brian Donnelly) is an American artist and designer. His work includes repeated use of a cast of figurative characters and motifs, some dating back to the beginning of his career in the 1990s, initially painted in 2D and later realised in 3D. Some of his characters are his own creations while others are reworked versions of existing icons.
Kaws figures range in size from a few inches to ten meters tall, and are made from various materials including fiber-glass, aluminium, wood, bronze, and a steel pontoon inflatable raft.
Donnelly’s influences come from traditional high art painters like Gerhard Richter, Claes Oldenburg, and Chuck Close, and he has been compared to the likes of Andy Warhol for his cross-market appeal and ability to blur lines between commercial and fine art. His work is exhibited in galleries and museums, held in the permanent collections of public institutions, and avidly collected by individuals including music producer Swizz Beatz, internet figure PewDiePie, rapper Pharrell Williams, and members of South Korean group BTS. A number of books illustrating his work have been published.
Donnelly lives and works in Brooklyn, New York, creating sculptures, acrylic paintings on canvas, and screen prints while also collaborating commercially, predominantly on limited edition toys, but also clothing, skateboard decks, and other products.
Donnelly’s work can be characterised by an emphasis on colour and line, distinctive graphics, such as the repeated use of “x”‘s on hands and nose and ears, and the appropriation of pop culture icons such as Mickey Mouse, the Michelin Man, the Smurfs, Snoopy, and SpongeBob SquarePants. His characters are generally depicted in a shy and/or powerless pose often with their hands over their nose. In his paintings, Kaws always deconstructs his appropriation of iconic characters into shapes that produces abstract paintings.