KAWSKAWS Companion 2016 (KAWS Flayed)2016
2016
About the Item
- Creator:KAWS (American)
- Creation Year:2016
- Dimensions:Height: 11 in (27.94 cm)Width: 5 in (12.7 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:NEW YORK, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU354311664942
KAWS
In the beginning, Brian Donnelly was just a kid from Jersey City, New Jersey, who got into the graffiti thing. KAWS was his tag, chosen simply because he liked the way it looked. Today, KAWS creates all kinds of art — there are KAWS figures and toys, sculptures and colorful drawings, paintings and prints that appropriate pop phenomena like the Smurfs, the Simpsons and SpongeBob SquarePants.
In the late 1990s, the artist, a 1996 graduate of New York’s School of Visual Arts, was making a living as an illustrator for the animation studio Jumbo Pictures. Like young Hansel and Gretel with their trail of crumbs, KAWS would mark the morning route to his downtown Manhattan office with “subvertising,” “interrupting” fashion advertisements by adding his colorful character Bendy, its sinuous length sliding playfully around the likes of a Calvin Klein perfume bottle or supermodel Christy Turlington.
These creations gained a following, to the point where work posted in the morning would disappear by lunchtime. Even in those early days, KAWS was hot on the resale market.
“When I was doing graffiti,” he once explained, “it meant nothing to me to make paintings if I wasn’t reaching people.”
Instead of seeking entrée to the elite New York art world (which, frankly, wasn’t looking for a street artist anyway), KAWS moved to Japan, where a flourishing youth culture welcomed visionaries like him.
In 1999, he partnered with Bounty Hunter, a Japanese toy and streetwear brand, to release his first toy. Companion — an eight-inch-tall vinyl reimagining of Mickey Mouse, with a skull-and-crossbones head and trademark XX eyes — debuted with a limited run of 500. It sold out quickly.
Companion was the first of more than 130 toy designs, which came to include such characters as Chum, Blitz, Be@rbrick, BFF and Milo, each immediately recognizable as KAWS figures by their XX eyes. Fans have proved insatiable. In 2017, MoMA’s online store announced the availability of a limited supply of KAWS Companion figures; as avid collectors logged on to stake their claim, the website crashed — multiple times.
Companion is the most visible of the KAWS posse, appearing over the past decade in new postures and combinations in monumental KAWS statues and other works. These include Along the Way (2013), an 18-foot-tall wooden sculpture of two Companions leaning on each other for support; Together (2016), two Companions in a friendly embrace, which debuted during an exhibition of KAWS’s work at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, in Texas; and KAWS:HOLIDAY (2018), a 92-foot-long inflatable Companion floating on its back in Seoul’s Seokchon Lake. The sculptures were re-created as toys, blurring the lines between art and commerce.
KAWS’s visual language may be drawn from cartoons, but his work doesn’t necessarily evoke childlike joy.
“My figures are not always reflecting the idealistic cartoon view that I grew up on,” he explains in the catalogue for the Fort Worth exhibition. “Companion is more real in dealing with contemporary human circumstances . . . . I think when I’m making work it also often mirrors what’s going on with me at that time.”
KAWS's résumé reads like a record of major 21st-century pop-culture moments. It includes his work with streetwear brands like A Bathing Ape and Supreme; his design for the cover of Kanye West’s 2008 album, 808s & Heartbreak; and his collaboration with designer Kim Jones on the Dior Homme Spring/Summer 2019 collection, Jones’s debut as the fashion brand’s creative director.
Learn how to spot a fake KAWS art toy, and browse authentic KAWS figures, prints, sculptures and mixed media works on 1stDibs.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: New York, NY
- Return PolicyThis item cannot be returned.
- KAWS Clean Slate Brown (KAWS brown clean slate companion)By KAWSLocated in NEW YORK, NYKAWS Clean Slate (Brown), new & unopened in its original packaging. A well-received work and variation of KAWS' large scale Clean Slate sculpture - a key highlight of KAWS’ major mu...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Abstract Sculptures
MaterialsResin, Vinyl
- KAWS HOLIDAY: set of 6 works (KAWS black companion)By KAWSLocated in NEW YORK, NYKAWS Holiday Companion (2019-2022): A curated set of 6 individual Black KAWS: HOLIDAY Companions new & unopened in original packaging. These KAWS holiday companions were born out of KAWS' world famous rotating series of large scale outdoor public exhibitions featuring massive sized renditions of same. A standout series of individual KAWS companions that works nicely in any setting. Please find further information as follows: KAWS UK (12 inches in height). KAWS Mount Fuji Japan (9.4 inches). KAWS Taipei (5.5 x 7 inches). KAWS Changbai...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Abstract Sculptures
MaterialsResin, Vinyl
- KAWS GONE set of 2 (KAWS gone companion)By KAWSLocated in NEW YORK, NYKAWS GONE: Set of 2 new & unopened in original packaging. A well-received work and variation of KAWS' large scale GONE sculpture - a key highlight of KAWS’ ...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Street Art Prints and Multiples
MaterialsResin, Vinyl
- KAWS Brown GONE (KAWS GONE brown & blue)By KAWSLocated in NEW YORK, NYKAWS GONE (Brown), new & unopened in its original packaging. A well-received work and variation of KAWS' large scale GONE sculpture - a key highlight of KAWS’ recent exhibition, 'KAWS: Companionship in the Age of Loneliness...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Abstract Sculptures
MaterialsResin, Vinyl
- KAWS GONE KAWS BFF Companions (KAWS companion set of 2 works)By KAWSLocated in NEW YORK, NYKAWS GONE Black & KAWS Black BFF Companions (set of 2 works 2017-2019): Medium: Vinyl paint & Cast Resin (applies to each work). Published 2017 & 2019, respectively. GONE: 14.25 x ...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Prints and Multiples
MaterialsResin, Vinyl
- KAWS CHUM set of 5 works (KAWS Chum companion set)By KAWSLocated in NEW YORK, NYKAWS CHUM Companion 2022: set of 5 works: This complete set of 5 KAWS CHUM Companions, was published by KAWS to commemorate the 20th anniversary of his famed Chum character; "I can r...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Abstract Sculptures
MaterialsResin, Vinyl
- Fanfare Star, Teal Blue, Red Colorful Botanical Paper Flower Wall SculptureBy Jill ParisiLocated in Kent, CTA bright and colorful paper sculpture of a fantastical botanical form in vibrant teal blue, reddish orange and light lime green and yellow. Composed of hand-colored etchings on hand-...Category
2010s Contemporary Abstract Sculptures
MaterialsHandmade Paper, Tissue Paper, Pigment, Pins, Digital, Etching
- rare Maeght sculpted holiday card 1968 - collectors item mid century modern artBy Alexander CalderLocated in New York, NYAlexander Calder rare Maeght sculpted holiday card, 1968 Hand made sculpted paper collage on paper with embossing Embossed artist's monogram 10 × 7 × 6 1/2 inches This rare, fold-ou...Category
1960s Contemporary Abstract Sculptures
MaterialsPaper, Mixed Media, Laid Paper, Lithograph, Offset
- Inflammatory Essays -- Sculpture, Pewter, Text Art by Jenny HolzerBy Jenny HolzerLocated in London, GBInflammatory Essays: Shriek When the Pain Hits During Interrogation, 1996 Jenny Holzer Pewter multiple with engraved text With the artist's incised signature and numbering verso Fr...Category
1990s Contemporary Abstract Sculptures
MaterialsMetal
- Wrapped Fountain, BarcelonaBy Christo and Jeanne-ClaudeLocated in New York, NYThis lithograph with collage was created in 1979/2009. From the signed and numbered edition of 200 measuring 22 x 28 in. (55.9 x 71.1 cm.). Available for local pick up from Michael L...Category
20th Century Contemporary Landscape Prints
MaterialsLithograph
- Brooch (Oiseau)By Niki de Saint PhalleLocated in New York, NYNiki de Saint Phalle Brooch (Oiseau), ca. 2005 Zamak, gold tone finished, nickel free (Incised Signature) Incised signature on the back of the jewelry (Niki De Saint Phalle) and the clasp (Niki). 2 3/10 × 1 3/5 inches Authorized by the Estate of Niki de Saint Phalle! This colorful, whimsical piece - "Oiseau" (Bird) can be worn both as a brooch and as a necklace. Bears the Niki de Saint Phalle's incised signature. Collectible work. Makes a terrific gift. Biography of Niki de Saint Phalle Childhood Niki de Saint Phalle was born in France in 1930 to an aristocratic Catholic family. She had an American mother, a French banker father, four siblings, and grew up bilingual in French and English. Her father lost his wealth during the Great Depression and the family moved to the US in 1933, where Saint Phalle attended Brearley School, a girls' school in New York City. Saint Phalle reported later in her life, in an autobiography titled Mon Secret (1994), that her father had sexually abused her from age 11. From an early age, Saint Phalle pushed boundaries in her artistic and personal life. Though she found Brearley School to be a formative experience, later claiming that it was there she became a feminist, she was expelled for painting the fig leaves covering the genitals of statues on the school's campus red. She then attended Oldfields School in Maryland, graduating in 1947. As a young woman, Saint Phalle also worked as a model, appearing on the front covers of Life Magazine and Vogue. When she was 18, Saint Phalle eloped with Henry Matthews, an author and childhood friend. While Matthews studied music at Harvard University, Saint Phalle began to explore painting, and gave birth to her daughter Laura in 1951, when she was 20 years old. Early Training and work In 1952, the Matthews and Saint Phalle moved to Paris, where he continued to study music and Saint Phalle studied theater. The couple traveled extensively in Europe, gaining exposure to art by the Old Masters. The following year, Saint Phalle was diagnosed with a "nervous breakdown" and hospitalized in a psychiatric facility. She was encouraged to paint as a form of therapy, and consequently gave up her theater studies in favor of becoming an artist. The couple moved to Mallorca off the coast of Spain, where their son Philip was born in 1955. During this time, Saint Phalle developed her imaginative, self-taught style of painting, experimenting with a variety of forms and materials. She also discovered the architecture of Antonio Gaudi, which had a strong influence on her work. Gaudi's Park Guell in Barcelona was instrumental in Saint Phalle's early conceptualization of the elaborate sculpture garden she would fulfill much later in her career. Mature Period At the end of the 1950s, Saint Phalle and her husband moved back to Paris. In 1960, however, the couple separated and Saint Phalle moved to a new apartment, established a studio, and met artist Jean Tinguely, with whom she would collaborate artistically. Within a year, they had moved in together and begun a romantic relationship. Saint Phalle became part of the Nouveau Réalisme movement along with Tinguely, Yves Klein, Arman and others. She was the only woman in the group. Her first solo exhibition in 1961 punctuated a dynamic period of Saint Phalle's early career, and she met a number of influential artists living in Paris at the time, such as Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns, whose use of found objects was to have a strong influence on Saint Phalle's work. She was also friendly with Marcel Duchamp, who first introduced her and Tinguely to Salvador Dalí. The three artists traveled to Spain together to an event celebrating Dali's work, in which a life-sized bull sculpture was detonated with fireworks. In 1963, Tinguely and Saint Phalle moved to an old house just outside Paris, where she began to work on architectural projects as well as her renowned shooting...Category
Early 2000s Contemporary Abstract Sculptures
MaterialsMetal, Gold, Enamel
- The Gates (e), Project for Central ParkBy Christo and Jeanne-ClaudeLocated in New York, NYThis offset lithograph in colors on wove paper from the Project for Central Park, New York City, was created by the artist in 2005. One of 300 hand-signed (in pencil) prints from an ...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Landscape Prints
MaterialsLithograph
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
How to Spot a Fake KAWS Figure
KAWS art toys have developed an avid audience in recent decades, and as in any robust collectible market, counterfeiters have followed the mania. Of course, you don’t have to worry about that on 1stDibs, where all our sellers are highly vetted.
KAWS Is Having a Major Effect on Popular Culture, Whether on the Street or in Museums
From graffiti tagger to hypebeast obsession to auction hero — we chart the artist’s rise and his widening influence.