KAWS has had a big year. Brian Donnelly, the artist behind the ‘X’-eyed characters, was a huge presence at Art Basel Hong Kong with the 115-foot-long Companion sculpture floating in the Victoria Harbor. Less than a month later, KAWS broke his own auction record by selling a Simpson-inspired, The KAWS Album painting at a Sotheby’s auction for $14.8 million, more than 14-times the estimated sales price. He has even infiltrated high fashion, as the Spring/Summer 2019 Dior x KAWS collaboration hit stores in November. The massive exposure has brought with it fans that wouldn’t traditionally gravitate towards fine art, but also critics from the industry.
“There is mass appeal to his work and that is always suspect in the art world,” executive director at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, Elysia Borowy-Reeder, says. “It isn’t a place where you have a lot of groupthink. It is not your typical art collector that is captivated by KAWS, it is everyone from an 8-year-old to a 24-year-old.”
While critics, such as art advisor Josh Baer, have given scathing reviews of KAWS saying, “I’m sure he’s a super nice guy and a great businessman. But I don’t think that the history of art will go: Matisse, Pollock, Johns, Basquiat, KAWS;” Borowy-Reeder – who is curating the exhibition KAWS: Alone Again at MOCAD – compares the graffiti-artist-turned-fine-artist to Off-White designer Virgil Abloh, rather than other visual artists. Although their work is very different, the way they work is the same: through collaboration. Whether it is Abloh’s quotation-marked phrases or Donnelly’s ‘X’ eyes, the trademarks are easily integrated into new source material.
“Abloh was the first one to say how many collaborations are too many,” the MOCAD director says. “It is about maintaining their ability to keep your point of view and think through how the collaboration will play out in the public and anticipate how you can keep your vision and aesthetic in tack, in spite of some of the hurdles that are proposed when you collaborate. You have to be a tremendous thinker with elasticity.”
Part of what makes KAWS so comfortable working with other people’s imagery is his beginnings in street art. In the early ‘90s, Donnelly began his career by spray painting over advertisements to undermine the commercial imagery. But almost 30 years later, he has moved on to more elaborate endeavours, like the 7 to 20-foot wooden sculptures that will be on display in Detroit. The cartoon figures feature versions of KAWS’ signature Mickey Mouse subversion, but their aim is to convey human emotion. “When you look at the sculptures in particular, you can see that there is a connection,” Borowy-Reeder says. “The figures are not human, but they have human attributes. You can feel the larger figure being protective of the smaller figure in the way that they stand and how their arms wrap around or rest. If you look closely you will see that there is a great amount of motion in these simplified characters.” Like the animated characters KAWS plays off of, the figurines are easily understood and recognisable. But like fashion, it is something everyone wants to participate in, which can worry those who don’t see fine art as a popular endeavour.
“Everyone is always worried about commercialisation in the fine art world,” Borowy-Reeder says. “But in my time in the art world, spanning 13 years now, you have seen the commercialisation and the professionalisation of the art world. It probably started with the French impressionists at the MET. You have to get your Monet tote bag or you Manet umbrella. It is about having a piece of art in your life.”
Arguably, the only difference is that KAWS is in charge of his own collaborations at accessible price points, like those with UNIQLO and Nike. It may be too soon to say whether or not KAWS will go the way of Warhol or Basquiat, but his broad appeal is not showing any signs of slowing down any time soon.
KAWS: Alone again opens 10 May and runs through 4 August.