Gallery: A KAWS Retrospective

KAWS has a new show opening in LA this weekend. Get up to speed with his career with a little help from artist Erik Parker.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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In honor of KAWS' upcoming Hold The Line exhibition at Honor Fraser, we take a look back at KAWS' prolific career by revisiting his works and by speaking to friend and collaborator, Erik Parker. Brian Donnelly, known to the art world KAWS first began as a graffiti artist in the mid '90s, before eventually climbing the ranks as one of the worlds most prominent and recognizable artists. He's created sneakers and toys, shown at galleries around the world, and even been subject of a full fledged museum retrospective. We're into it all. So, naturally, we're sharing our favorite bits from all KAWS' artistic ventures. 

Hold the Line runs from September 10 through October 22, 2011.

Honor Fraser, 2622 S. La Cienega BLVD., Los Angeles, CA 90034. 

Join us for a full retrospective on KAWS' lengthy and well deserved career, and hear from one of the artists who knows him best. 

Street

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Untitled (KAWS), 1997.
Spray paint on cement wall, NYC

KAWS originally got his start as a graffiti writer in the mid '90s, tagging locally in New Jersey, New York, and later Tokyo. He was a member of the DF, FC and TC5 crews. This was KAWS' first platform to an international audience. 

Erik Parker: "KAWS is very well centered and put together, even all the time. He's able to do that. For me it's been inspiring within my own work, just watching how this dude gets down."

Untitlted (KAWS), 1994
Tokyo, Japan

Untitled (KAWS)

Untitled (KAWS), 1995

 


Museum

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(KAWS), The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, 2010

KAWS has been exhibited in a number of museum projects and exhibitions over the years. His first work was for NYC's New Museum bookstore, and has since shown at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, MOCA Art in The Streets, and a recent return visit to the New Museum. 

Eric Parker: "I've been aware of KAWS since 1999. I had a friend who was a curator in Tokyo who would come to my studio after he'd visit KAWS, so I'd hear about this kid all the time and what he was doing. I then saw his work in the window of the New Museum bookstore back in 2000. I happened to be with my kids trick or treating in his building one year and we hit his studio. I saw a couple paintings and we started chatting, but we didn't start hanging out until a couple years after that."


 

(KAWS) Poster- Untitled (Maidenform), 2000
Phone booth intervention.

Kurf- Tangle, (KAWS), The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, 2009

(KAWS), The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, 2011

(KAWS), Art In the Streets, MOCA, 2011

Gallery

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(KAWS), PARCO gallery, 2001
Tokyo, Japan 

KAWS has held gallery exhibitions for nearly two decades. Most recently, KAWS collaborated with friend and fellow artist, Erik Parker, for Pretty on the Inside at NYC's Paul Kasmin gallery.

Erik Parker: "Our collaboration at Kasmin evolved from our conversations about artwork, and the things that we both like. We were able to create a show that wasn't about ourselves, but about the things and the people we like. We had a good time doing it as well." 

 


PERMANENT THIRTY-THREE, (KAWS) Bronze, Gering & Lopez Gallery, 2008

(KAWS), Honor Fraser Gallery, 2011

 (KAWS) Pretty On The Inside, Paul Kasmin Gallery, 2011

 (KAWS) Pretty On The Inside, Paul Kasmin Gallery, 2011

 

Collaborations

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KAWS x Hennesey, 2011

KAWS has collaborated with some of the biggest names in art, music, fashion, toys, and more. Recently, the artist teamed with Hennessy for a limited-edition bottle which premiered this summer at the New Museum in NYC. 

Erik Parker: "If you trace back to Original Fake, you can see how that all seems to blend into his work and crisscrosses. You keep wanting more. And you want to own that shit. 'I didn't get this, hey where can I get one of  these?'"

KAWS x Original Fake, 2006

KAWS x Nike AF1, 1998

KAWS x Kanye West, 808's & Heartbreak, 2008

KAWS x The Standard, 2011

Toys

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The Companion (KAWS), 1999

KAWS released his first toy back in 1999. The Companion was in collaboration with Japan's Bounty Hunter brand and was recently recreated into a massive 16-foot statue that currently resides outside The Standard hotel in NYC.  

Erik Parker: "A lot of the things we gravitate to are the same. The thing about KAWS' stuff is the more you know about what he does, the more you become addicted to it."

Accomplice (KAWS), 2002

Chum (KAWS), 2002

Pinochio and Jiminy Cricket (KAWS), 2010

The Companion (KAWS), 2011

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