KAWS
photo by Guillaume Ziccarelli
Profile
The Brooklyn-based artist KAWS (Brian Donnelly) was born in New Jersey, in 1974.
His paintings, drawings, and sculpture have been widely exhibited at museums and art galleries. He is internationally known also as a graphic artist and a creator of highly sought-after, editioned toys, apparel, and other products.
KAWS grew up in Jersey City, where he emerged as a graffiti artist in the early 1990s. He later studied at the School of Visual Arts (1993-1996), where he shifted his focus to creating public “interventions” by subverting imagery on billboards and advertisements in bus shelters and phone booths.
This led to collaborations with commercial photographers and designers, resulting in original artworks that have been extensively published. KAWS comfortably straddles the commercial and fine art worlds with his work, which ranges from graphic, product, and industrial design to painting, drawings, sculpture, wall murals, and silkscreen prints.
Working in the historical continuum of Pop Art, his recent paintings present abstracted cartoon imagery, making reference to both popular culture and the history of modern painting. Alternating between figuration and abstraction, KAWS’s work reflects the chaotic nature of contemporary culture.
| 2018 | 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 |
| 2016 | 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 |
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