KAWS - 20th Century & Contemporary Art & Design Day Sale in association with Yongle Hong Kong Tuesday, November 29, 2022 | Phillips

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  • "[The X’s are] something that began when I started painting over ads and billboards in ’93. I just started using the skull and cross for imagery and I stopped using lettering. I thought it brought more of an audience than graffiti did. I wanted to communicate further than the surface I was already working in. So I started working with the skull and crossbones around the time I moved to Manhattan. The X was the simplest form of that. If I had to pare it down to the most recognisable point, it would be X—and I haven’t gotten bored of it."
    — KAWS

    The present work (far left) exhibited at Tokyo, Perrotin, KAWS, 22 March – 12 May 2018
    The present work (far left) exhibited at Tokyo, Perrotin, KAWS, 22 March – 12 May 2018. Image: Kei Okano, Artwork: © KAWS
    • Provenance

      Private Collection, Hong Kong
      Acquired from the above by the present owner

    • Exhibited

      Tokyo, Galerie Perrotin, KAWS, 22 March – 12 May 2018

    • Artist Biography

      KAWS

      American • 1974

      To understand the work of KAWS is to understand his roots in the skateboard and graffiti crews of New York City. Brian Donnelly chose KAWS as his moniker to tag city streets beginning in the 1990s, and quickly became a celebrated standout in the scene. Having swapped spray paint for explorations in fine art spanning sculpture, painting and collage, KAWS has maintained a fascination with classic cartoons, including Garfield, SpongeBob SquarePants and The Simpsons, and reconfigured familiar subjects into a world of fantasy. 

      Perhaps he is most known for his larger-than-life fiberglass sculptures that supplant the body of Mickey Mouse onto KAWS' own imagined creatures, often with 'x'-ed out eyes or ultra-animated features. However, KAWS also works frequently in neon and vivid paint, adding animation and depth to contemporary paintings filled with approachable imagination. There is mass appeal to KAWS, who exhibits globally and most frequently in Asia, Europe and the United States.  

      View More Works

132

UNTITLED

signed and dated 'KAWS..18' on the reverse
acrylic on canvas
diameter 50.8 cm. (20 in.)
Painted in 2018.

Full Cataloguing

Estimate
HK$500,000 - 700,000 
€62,200-87,100
$64,100-89,700

Sold for HK$504,000

Contact Specialist

Danielle So
Specialist, Head of Day Sale
+852 2318 2027
danielleso@phillips.com

20th Century & Contemporary Art & Design Day Sale in association with Yongle

Hong Kong Auction 30 November 2022