The art world was stunned on April 1st, when a pop-culture parody by KAWS shattered all records and estimates to sell for a whopping 11.34 million euros at auction. The amount was almost 15 times higher than estimated and more than five times higher than the previous record set for a work by the acclaimed street artist.
So, who is KAWS and why is his artwork on the rise?
Brian Donnelly a.k.a. KAWS
KAWS, real name Brian Donnelly, was born on America’s east coast, in the heart of New Jersey, in 1974. During the early 90s, Donnelly made the move to New York to study a Bachelor of Fine Arts at NYC’s acclaimed School of Visual Arts. Here, he would develop his skillset in traditional art techniques, graduating in 1996 before venturing into the world of animation, illustrating backgrounds for popular cartoons like Daria and Doug. That same year, Donnelly moved to Manhattan where he developed a taste for graffiti. It wasn’t long before massive burners under the name KAWS began appearing across the city on freight trains, buildings and everything else in between.
We guess you’re probably wondering why Donnelly decided to embrace the alter ego KAWS. Well, the answer, quite simply, is that he aesthetically liked the ways the letters looked together. The fact the name sounded phonetically the same as the word ‘cause’ was an added bonus.
While Donnelly’s impressive pieces gained him praise from the graf community, it was his response to the rise in advertising across the city that well and truly brought him into the public eye. Rather than merely painting over advertisements, Donnelly would ‘subvertise’ them, masterfully incorporating his pieces within the original advertisements to transform them into promotions for his own identity. This began simply enough by vandalising the billboards that began to cover up the city’s most prized graf spots, but then Donnelly had a genius idea. He managed to track down a key to open up the advertising enclosures at bus stops. This allowed him to alter the advertisements at night and slyly reinsert them, leaving many New Yorkers none the wiser that they had just been exposed to a daily dose of street art on their morning commute.
Over the next 20 years, Donnelly would gradually increase the profile of his KAWS identity, both through new works and, perhaps most importantly, experiments in collaboration.
It’s staggering to think now, but, yes, there was a period in time where you could have obtained a KAWS original by cracking open a bus stop advertisement – and it was these works that were most significant in establishing the iconic KAWS style that is so highly praised today. KAWS’s signature cross-bone skull and X-ed eyes were recurring elements in these bus stop works, often in conjunction with his character Bendy. While it’s sad to think that the majority – if not all – of these significant artworks are likely long destroyed, such is the nature of street art. Donnelly would later spread his unique brand of subvertisement internationally to cities like Paris, London and Tokyo.
In 1999, Donnelly would give his work permanence by linking with toy designers in Japan to bring his now-iconic Companion figure to life. Originally these were made in small runs and sold on consignment. If you are lucky enough to have one of these debut figures then you sitting on a proverbial goldmine: they are literally worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in 2019!
Over the next 20 years, Donnelly would gradually increase the profile of his KAWS identity, both through new works and, perhaps most importantly, experiments in collaboration. In Japan, Donnelly established a long-standing friendship with A Bathing Ape founder Nigo, allowing him to bring his branding to sneakers and apparel. Also in Japan, Donnelly would establish an ongoing business relationship with Medicom Toy, allowing him to put his sculptures into mass production. In the west, Donnelly would connect with Nike to put his spin on classics like the Air Force 1, Air Max 90 and, most recently, the Air Jordan 4.
KAWS x Air Jordan 4
In recent years, thanks to an abundance of high-profile collaborations and equally high-profile fans, demand for original KAWS artwork has soared to meteoric heights. The recent Sotheby’s auction, which saw KAWS items from Nigo’s personal collection auctioned off at the end of Hong Kong’s Art Basel, impressed on every level. Every single item sold well above all estimates, including the mass-produced items up for grabs.
Above: KAWS’s ‘THE KAWS ALBUM’, which sold for $14.8 million (€11.34 million) at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, setting a new record for the artist.
It is somewhat ironic that KAWS’s stance against consumer culture has birthed such a sure-fire recipe for consumption, but who are we to judge. KAWS (@kaws) is one of the most iconic artists of our generation – not just within the realm of street art – and it’s no wonder everybody wants a piece of the action. Fingers crossed Nike has another collaboration in the works!