ART:
Brian Donnelly, aka “KAWS”, gained recognition in the early 1990s by tagging walls and writing graffiti in and around Jersey City and New York. In the mid-1990s, he began appropriating advertisements from bus shelters and phone booths in New York City and painting a graphic, cartoon-like skull-and-crossbones image into them. He continued to develop this motif for the next few years, re-working advertising materials not only in bus shelters and phone booths in New York City, San Francisco, Paris, London, Berlin, and Tokyo.
His work has been featured in numerous publications, as well as exhibited at Colette, Paris, PARCO Gallery, Tokyo, MU Art Foundation, the Netherlands, at BAPE Gallery, Tokyo, Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, Miami, Gering & Lopez, Manhattan, and soon to be the Honor Fraser Gallery in Los Angeles.
KAWS got his BFA in illustration from The School of Visual Arts in New York City. After graduating he briefly worked for Disney as a freelance animator.
Heavily influenced by iconic characters from modern pop culture, such as Mickey Mouse, “The Michelin Man”, The Simpsons, The Smurfs, and SpongeBob SquarePants. KAWS’ work treads the fine line between art, commerce, cartoons, and commercials. It is a disruption of, as well as a tribute to, all objects produced, bought, sold, exchanged, desired, and cherished.
www.kawsone.com/blog
