KAWS is a leading New York-based contemporary artist whose work grew out of graffiti and iconic street interventions. Dealing with consumerism and assimilating the imagery of popular culture, KAWS’s works reveal a deep understanding of the trajectory of art history, with the artist himself an avid and passionate collector.
The KAWS exhibition at Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP), his first in the UK, was installed in January and featured paintings and sculptures from the past 10 years. His incredibly singular practice proliferates with a cast of characters developed over two decades, including Chum and Companion, each bearing the trademark KAWS “X” on their eyes, shoes and gloves, along with a softened, cartoon-like skull and crossbones head.
KAWS came to creating sculptures on a monumental scale via making editions of vinyl toys, sold in high numbers to reach his audience in accessible form, and to finance his larger works.
He is one of a small number of artists who successfully negotiate and straddle fine art practice with wider commercial activity, and he continues to undertake collaborative work, most recently a range with Japanese clothing chain Uniqlo and handbags with designer Nancy Gonzalez at the Parisian fashion store Colette.
As his largest museum show to date, KAWS sought a design for the catalogue that reflected YSP, rather than assuming his own brand or a street aesthetic. A seriousness of intent was critical. And although KAWS draws no hierarchical distinction between the various aspects of his practice, there is an absolute clarity in vision and direction for each strand.
A significant focus of the Yorkshire exhibition was the open-air display, of which the artist said: “I’ve never been in a position where I have had so many of my large sculptural works in a sightline … they change from being a pea into something massive”.
As the works are more typically shown in an urban context, it was important that the publication’s photography captured this sense of an unfurling journey, of walking towards the sculptures within the expansive landscape, the developing dialogue between the works and the dawning realisation of their scale in relation to the human body.
The first snowfall came before we finished piecing together KAWS’s gigantic works at YSP. We were fortunate to experience and document extremes of weather, from a heavy hoar frost that accentuated the details of the exquisite wooden forms to a fleeting snow blizzard and golden winter light that brought the landscape and sculpture to life. As the catalogue’s photographer, Jonty Wilde, lived within half an hour’s drive of YSP, he could be responsive to changing weather conditions.
The sharing of the publication on Instagram, including the design, photography and printing, has also been important. With around half a million followers, KAWS has a loyal and devoted band of supporters across the globe. For many of them, visiting the exhibition in person was impossible, placing even further emphasis on the role of the catalogue and activity accessed away from the museum.
Sarah Coulson is a curator at Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Two KAWS works are on show at YSP until December
The KAWS exhibition at Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP), his first in the UK, was installed in January and featured paintings and sculptures from the past 10 years. His incredibly singular practice proliferates with a cast of characters developed over two decades, including Chum and Companion, each bearing the trademark KAWS “X” on their eyes, shoes and gloves, along with a softened, cartoon-like skull and crossbones head.
KAWS came to creating sculptures on a monumental scale via making editions of vinyl toys, sold in high numbers to reach his audience in accessible form, and to finance his larger works.
He is one of a small number of artists who successfully negotiate and straddle fine art practice with wider commercial activity, and he continues to undertake collaborative work, most recently a range with Japanese clothing chain Uniqlo and handbags with designer Nancy Gonzalez at the Parisian fashion store Colette.
As his largest museum show to date, KAWS sought a design for the catalogue that reflected YSP, rather than assuming his own brand or a street aesthetic. A seriousness of intent was critical. And although KAWS draws no hierarchical distinction between the various aspects of his practice, there is an absolute clarity in vision and direction for each strand.
A significant focus of the Yorkshire exhibition was the open-air display, of which the artist said: “I’ve never been in a position where I have had so many of my large sculptural works in a sightline … they change from being a pea into something massive”.
As the works are more typically shown in an urban context, it was important that the publication’s photography captured this sense of an unfurling journey, of walking towards the sculptures within the expansive landscape, the developing dialogue between the works and the dawning realisation of their scale in relation to the human body.
The first snowfall came before we finished piecing together KAWS’s gigantic works at YSP. We were fortunate to experience and document extremes of weather, from a heavy hoar frost that accentuated the details of the exquisite wooden forms to a fleeting snow blizzard and golden winter light that brought the landscape and sculpture to life. As the catalogue’s photographer, Jonty Wilde, lived within half an hour’s drive of YSP, he could be responsive to changing weather conditions.
The sharing of the publication on Instagram, including the design, photography and printing, has also been important. With around half a million followers, KAWS has a loyal and devoted band of supporters across the globe. For many of them, visiting the exhibition in person was impossible, placing even further emphasis on the role of the catalogue and activity accessed away from the museum.
Sarah Coulson is a curator at Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Two KAWS works are on show at YSP until December
