American artist, KAWS, pictured with some of his works.
KAWS first made a name for himself as a graffiti artist in New York in the 1990s before branching out by collaborating with different brands to create toys, clothes, and more. Today, KAWS has essentially become a brand in his own right, and both his consumer products and artwork are sold, sought-after, and displayed around the world.
KAWS is probably best-known for his 3D work, from large-scale public sculptures to toys, but he does also paint and draw, and his prints account for a respectable 19% of his work sold at auction. Most of these reach prices between £1,000 and £5,000, though a significant proportion can fetch up to £50,000, and some have been known to attain even higher prices.
KAWS is soft-spoken and thoughtful in interviews, coming across as an engaging artist who cares deeply about his work. Read on to discover six things you might not have known about KAWS.
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His Moniker Doesn’t Mean Anything
KAWS was born Brian Donnelly in New Jersey in 1974, and he first created his moniker as a teenager when he began experimenting with graffiti. According to the artist, ‘KAWS’ doesn’t mean anything specific, “It’s just letters that I liked – K-A-W-S. I felt like they always work and function nicely with each other.” Apparently, he painted the tag on the roof of a building near his school so that he could look at it whilst sitting in classes. Over the decades, it was this moniker which would become known throughout the world, establishing KAWS as an undeniably influential figure in contemporary art.
His Most Expensive Prints Sold For Over £100,000
Blame Game is a set of 10 screenprints in colours from 2014. The series was only printed as a limited edition of 100, and it is extremely popular in today’s market, accounting for eight out of KAWS’ 16 most expensive prints sold at auction. The prints contain many signature features of KAWS’ work, including closely-cropped, vibrant images with bold lines, and one portfolio set a new record for the artist when it was sold by Philips in May 2019 for £100,189.
Blame Game sold by Phillips in 2019
He’s Known For His ‘X’ Motif
Much of KAWS’ work features cartoonish characters with crossed out eyes, or with an ‘X’ symbol marked on their hands, which tend to be covering their eyes. Critics and fans have long debated the meaning of these crosses, with most agreeing they stem from KAWS’ early days as a street artist and are designed to pose questions about identity, consumerism, and popular culture, whilst also providing an easy way for KAWS to make his work instantly recognisable. Many of his most popular sculptures have X-ed out eyes, and they even appear in his sought-after prints such as No Reply, Ups and Downs, and The News.
He Worked As An Animator
After graduating from the School of Visual Arts in New York City in 1996, KAWS took a job as a freelance animator for Disney. He worked on creating animated backgrounds for the company during the day, and spent his nights making a name for himself as a graffiti artist in New York, populating the city with cartoonlike characters he’d either invented or appropriated from well-known comic strips and films. This is a practice that the artist continues to this day, with some of his most popular pieces featuring iconic cartoon characters, including a set of three Snoopy-inspired prints titled No One’s Home/Stay Steady/The Things That Comfort.
KAWS, ‘Pinocchio and Jiminy Cricket’ , 2010
He Subverted Billboards
During his time as a graffiti artist in New York, KAWS was given a skeleton key to open up street advertising boxes by fellow artist, Barry McGee. This allowed him to unlock the glass or plastic display cabinets containing advertising posters, which he would then take home, alter, and replace, often leaving people wondering if the adverts had been vandalised or not.
According to KAWS, even when people saw him removing the posters, “no-one said anything, people thought it was my job”. One of his most well-known subversions was that of a Calvin Klein ad featuring Christy Turlington, which KAWS altered to include a green, snakelike character with crossed out eyes wrapping itself around the model’s body. This became a limited edition print in 1999 called Untitled (Calvin Klein), which remains extremely popular at auction to this day.
Billboard tagged by KAWS
He’s Collaborated With Famous Names And Brands
KAWS has collaborated with others since his early days, and many of these collaborations helped establish him in the art world and the popular consciousness. He’s worked with some very well-known brands and celebrities across many different areas, creating toys, clothes, album covers, footwear, packaging, and more. For KAWS, “it’s just something that I’ve always done… It’s a sort of fun win-win situation. You can learn a lot and figure out how to do things for yourself, too.”
