KAWS

KAWS, BORN 1974 IN NEW JERSEY, IS A MULTI-FACETED NEW YORK BASED ARTIST. KAWS BEGAN HIS CAREER AS A GRAFFITI ARTIST IN JERSEY CITY, TAKING TO THE STREETS AT NIGHT AND PAINTING OVER ADVERTISEMENTS. IN THE EARLY 1990S, KAWS MOVED TO NEW YORK CITY, WHERE HE EARNED A BACHELOR'S DEGREE OF FINE ART FROM THE SCHOOL OF VISUAL ARTS. SOON AFTER, KAWS BEGAN WORKING AS A FREELANCE ANIMATOR FOR THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY WHERE HE WORKED ON AS 101 DALMATIANS, DARIA, AND DOUG. DURING THE 1990S, KAWS ALSO BEGAN DESIGNING AND PRODUCING LIMITED EDITION VINYL TOYS, WHICH BECAME AN INSTANT SENSATION IN THE GLOBAL ART TOY COLLECTING COMMUNITY. MORE RECENTLY, KAWS HAS DESIGNED TOYS AND CLOTHING FOR ESTABLISHED BRANDS AND COMPANIES, SUCH AS ORIGINAL FAKE, UNDERCOVER, KUNG FAUX, COMME DES GARCONS, VANS, AND NIKE. HE WORKED WITH NIKE AND UNIQLO IN 2017 TO PRODUCE GARMENTS INSPIRED BY HIS DISTINCTLY RECOGNIZABLE ICONOGRAPHY. KAWS HAS REWORKED MANY WELL KNOWN TELEVISION AND CARTOON CHARACTERS, INCLUDING CHARACTERS FROM THE SIMPSONS, MICKEY MOUSE, THE SMURFS, SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS, AND PEANUTS, TO NAME A FEW. KAWS SUBVERTS THESE FIGURES TO QUESTION THE LINES BETWEEN CONSUMERISM AND CULTURAL VALUE. CRITICS HAVE COMPARED KAWS TO MASTERS SUCH AS JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT AND KEITH HARING, WHOSE CAREERS ALSO BEGAN AS STREET ARTISTS. KAWS CHALLENGES THE CATEGORIES OF ‘HIGH’ AND ‘LOW’ ART AND BLURS THE LINES BETWEEN COMMERCIAL AND FINE ART. KAWS SKILLFULLY PARTICIPATES IN BOTH THE ART AND DESIGN WORLDS WITH A BREADTH OF MURALS, PAINTINGS, PRINTS, AND LARGE-SCALE SCULPTURES LOCATED IN HOT SPOTS ALL OVER THE WORLD. KAWS CURRENTLY LIVES AND WORKS IN NEW YORK CITY.