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BUT IS IT ART?

KAWS

KAWS: What Party Book

in Books Comment

KAWS What Party Cover

KAWS What Party Spread 001

KAWS What Party Spread 002

KAWS What Party Spread 003

KAWS What Party Spread 004

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KAWS What Party Spread 006

KAWS: WHAT PARTY (Signed edition)
Essays by Daniel Birnbaum and Eugenie Tsai

A comprehensive monograph on the work of KAWS, one of the most sought-after artists and creative forces of our time

Drawing from Pop art traditions, KAWS’s work straddles the line between fine art and popular culture, crossing the mediums of painting and sculpture, along with fashion, merchandise, vinyl toys, and, most recently, augmented reality. This book, made in close collaboration with the artist, features his most well-known works alongside sketches, preparatory drawings, and never-before-seen images of KAWS at work, revealing the meticulous process behind his iconic artworks. Accompanying a major retrospective exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum, it captures the artist’s unique ability to reshape the ways we think about contemporary art and culture today.

Specifications:

Format: Hardback
Size: 305 x 238 mm (12 x 9 3/8 in)
Pages: 256 pp
Illustrations: 1500 illustrations
ISBN: 9781838662882

Phaidon

KAWS: What Party

in Art Comment

KAWS, WHAT PARTY, 2020. Bronze, paint, 90 × 43 5/16 × 35 3/8 in. (228.6 × 110 × 89.9 cm)

KAWS: WHAT PARTY

KAWS: WHAT PARTY is a sweeping survey featuring more than one hundred broad-ranging works, such as rarely seen graffiti drawings and notebooks, paintings and sculptures, smaller collectibles, furniture, and monumental installations of his popular COMPANION figures. It also features new pieces made uniquely for the exhibition along with his early-career altered advertisements.

KAWS, WHAT PARTY, 2020. Bronze, paint, 90 × 43 5/16 × 35 3/8 in. (228.6 × 110 × 89.9 cm). © KAWS. (Photo: Michael Biondo)

Brooklyn Museum

Kaws — Chum (Black)

in Art Comment

Kaws Chum (Black) Front

Kaws Chum (Black) Side

Kaws Chum (Black) Back

Kaws Chum (Black) Bag

Kaws
Chum (Black)

Stamped ‘:CHUM.. ©KAWS..02 on the underside of the left foot; further signed and dated ‘KAWS..03’ on the underside of the right foot
Painted vinyl, with original 360 Toy Group packaging
35.6 x 21 x 10.8 cm (14 x 8 1/4 x 4 1/4 in.)
Executed in 2002, this work is number 21 from an edition of 500 fabricated by 360 Toy Group, New York.

Phillips

Kaws
American — 1974

To understand the work of KAWS is to understand his roots in the skateboard and graffiti crews of New York City. Brian Donnelly chose KAWS as his moniker to tag city streets beginning in the 1990s, and quickly became a celebrated standout in the scene. Having swapped spray paint for explorations in fine art spanning sculpture, painting and collage, KAWS has maintained a fascination with classic cartoons, including Garfield, SpongeBob SquarePants and The Simpsons, and reconfigured familiar subjects into a world of fantasy.

Perhaps he is most known for his larger-than-life fiberglass sculptures that supplant the body of Mickey Mouse onto KAWS’ own imagined creatures, often with ‘x’-ed out eyes or ultra-animated features. However, KAWS also works frequently in neon and vivid paint, adding animation and depth to contemporary paintings filled with approachable imagination. There is mass appeal to KAWS, who exhibits globally and most frequently in Asia, Europe and the United States.