KAWS
KAWS (American, b.1974) is a notable limited-edition toy and clothing designer. He was born in Jersey City, NJ, as Brian Donnelly. Growing up in New Jersey, KAWS first became interested in graffiti in elementary school, where he spent a good deal of time copying graffiti images onto paper. His first influences were neighborhood children, who painted graffiti images on walls within his community. As he grew older, his influences came from traditional life painters, such as Gerhard Richter (German, b.1932), Klaus Oldenberg (Swedish, b.1929), and Chuck Close (American, b.1940).
KAWS’s career began as a graffiti artist in New York, NY, in the early 1990s. His images were seen on billboards, bus stops, and in phone booths. He obtained his BFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York. Immediately after graduation in 1996, KAWS began working as a freelance artist for Disney, creating animated backgrounds. Some of his most popular works include his contributions to 101 Dalmations, Daria, and Doug. Once KAWS began to gain popularity, his graffiti advertisements became highly sought after. He traveled extensively to work in Paris, London, Germany, and Japan. In 1998, he received the Pernod Liquid Art Award, which offers a grant to new artists.
In late 1990s, KAWS began to design and produce limited-edition toys. These gained international popularity, especially in Japan. He also began to collaborate on several different toys, including with Nigo (Japanese, b.1970) for A Bathing Ape. Some of KAWS’s other popular collaborative works include his redesign of Mickey Mouse, The Michelin Man, and SpongeBob SquarePants. The artist’s solo exhibitions have been held at The Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art in Ridgefield, CT, the Harris Museum in Preston, UK, the Parco Gallery in Tokyo, Japan, and the City Gallery Chastain in Atlanta, GA. His solo exhibition, OriginalFake at the Bape Gallery in Tokyo, Japan, featured a sculpture entitled Wonderful World, which sold for US$400,000. KAWS’s traveling exhibition, Beautiful Losers, toured throughout Europe and the United States and included a showing at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, GA. The artist currently lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.
Chronology
1996 - BFA School of Visual Arts, New York, NY.
1998 - Recipient, Pernod Liquid Art Award
1999–2003
Ontario College of Art and Design
Studied at The School of Visual Arts in New York City
Lives and works in Brooklyn, NY
Selected Solo Exhibitions
Galerie Perrotin, Tokyo, Japan
Galerie Perrotin, Hong Kong
2017
WHERE THE END STARTS, Yuz Museum, Shanghai, China
Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, USA
2016
WHERE THE END STARTS, Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Fort Worth, TX
BFF, Central Embassy, Bangkok, Thailand
Galerie Perrotin, Seoul, South Korea
Yorkshire Sculpture Park, West Yorkshire, UK
2015
Permanent Vacation II, Eden Rock Gallery, St. Barts
ALONG THE WAY, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY
A Shared Space: KAWS, Karl Wirsum, Tomoo Gokita, Newcomb Art Museum of Tulane University, New Orleans, LA
CLEAN SLATE, LA NAVE, Las Salinas, Ibiza, Spain
CLEAN SLATE, Shanghai Times Square, Shanghai, China
2014
"FINAL DAYS", CAC Malaga, Spain
MAN'S BEST FRIEND, Honor Fraser, Los Angeles, USA
CLEAN SLATE, Harbour City, Hong Kong, China
PLAY YOUR PART, Galeria Javier Lopez, Madrid, Spain
2013
"PASS THE BLAME", Galerie Perrotin New York, USA
Mary Boone Gallery in cooperation with Galerie Perrotin, New York, USA
"Ups and Downs", The Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Overland Park, USA
"KAWS GISWIL", More Gallery, Giswil, Switzerland
"Ohhh...", Kaikai Kiki Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
"BORN TO BEND", Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, USA
2012
"COMPANION (PASSING THROUGH)", Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, TX
"IMAGINARY FRIENDS", Galerie Perrotin, Paris, France
“The Nature of Need”, Galerie Perrotin, Hong Kong
“KAWS: Down Time”, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, USA
2011
“Companion (Passing Through)”, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, USA
“FOCUS: KAWS”, Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, USA
“Hold The Line”,Honor Fraser Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
“Passing Through”, The Standard, New York, USA
“Passing Through”, Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, USA
2010
“Passing Through”, Harbour City Museum of Art, Hong Kong
“KAWS”, The Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, USA
“Pay the Debt to Nature”, Galerie Perrotin, Paris, France
Galeria Javier Lopez, Madrid, Spain
2009 - “The Long Way Home”, Honor Fraser, Los Angeles, USA
2008
Gering & López Gallery, New York, USA
“Saturated”, Galerie Perrotin, Miami, USA
2003 - “Original Fake”, BAPE Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2002
Elms Lesters Painting Room, London, UK
“C9”, MU Art Foundation, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
2001 - “Tokyo First”, Parco Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
1999 - Colette, Paris, France
Selected Group Exhibitions
Holdings: Selections from MCASD's Collection, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, La Jolla, USA
Greek Gotham, Dio Horia Gallery, Mykonos, Greece
A Material Legacy: The Nancy A. Nasher and David J. Haemisegger Collection of Contemporary Art, Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, USA
2015
Respect, Centro de Arte Contemporáneo, Málaga, Spain ArtZuid 2015, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2014
If You're Accidentally Not Included, Don't Worry About It., curated by Peter Saul, Zurcher Studio, New York, NY Joyride, Marlborough Chelsea, New York, NY Ok, I'll rename it, Bill Brady KC, Kansas City, MO Knock! Knock!, Galeria Javier Lopez, Madrid, Spain Full House, Garth Greenan Gallery, New York, NY PAINT NEW YORK, GL Strand, Copenhagen, Denmark
2013 - Happy Birthday Galerie Perrotin / 25ans", TRIPOSTAL, Lille, France
2012
“White Columns Benefit Exhibition and Auction”, White Columns, New York, USA East West Shift to the Middle Part #1, Bill Brady KC, Kansas City, MO Group Show - Wangechi Mutu - KAWS - Jeff Sonhouse - Wim Delvoye, Gallery Zidoun, Luxembourg It Ain't Fair 2012, OHWOW, Miami, FL
2011
“PRETTY ON THE INSIDE”, organized by Erik Parker and KAWS, Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York, USA “Art in the Streets”, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, USA “Party Animals” & “FACEMAKER,” Royal/T, Los Angeles, USA
2010
“Mutant Pop”, curated by Joe Grillo, Laura Grant, and Brandon Joyce, Galleri Loyal, Malmo, Sweden “It Ain’t Fair”, OHWOW, Miami, USA “The Reflected Gaze - Self Portraiture Today”, The Torrance Art Museum, Torrance, USA
2009
“Just what is it that make today’s painting so different, so appealing”, Gering & López Gallery, New York, USA “Stages”, organized by Lance Armstrong and Nike, Galerie Perrotin, Paris, France “Alpha Exotica”, curated by Dimitrios Antonitsis, Hydra School Projects, Athens, Greece The New Yorkers, V1 Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark “Plastic Culture”, Harris Museum and Art Gallery, Preston, UK “I Can’t Feel My Face”, Curated by KAWS, Royal/T, Los Angeles, USA
2008
“Everything Else”, Franklin Parrasch Gallery, New York, USA
2007 - POPcentric, Gering & López Gallery, New York, USA
2006
“Info Babble”, Richard & Dolly Maass Gallery, Purchase, New York, USA “Ugly Winners”, Galerie Du Juor Agnes B., Paris, France
2004
“Beautiful Losers”, curated by Aaron Rose and Christian Strike, Le Tri Postal, Lille, France, Palazzo Dell’Arte, Milan, Italy, USF Contemporary Art Museum, Tampa, USA, Contemporary Museum, Baltimore, USA, Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, USA, Yerba Buena Arts Center, San Francisco, USA, Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, USA
2003 - “SK8 on the Wall”, Parco Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2002
“Session the Bowl”, Deitch Projects, New York, USA “ALIFE Shop”, Deitch Projects, New York, USA “Coded Language”, City Gallery Chastain, Atlanta, USA
2001 - “Shortcuts”, Nicosia Municipal Arts Centre, Athens, Greece Pierides Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens, Greece “New Acquisitions from the Dakis Joannou Collection”, Deste Foundation, Athens, Greece; Lakai Group Cultural Centretztt
