KAWS - New Now London Wednesday, April 10, 2019 | Phillips

New Now

London Auction 11 April 2019

  • Provenance

    Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield
    Private Collection, London

  • 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.  

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5

KAWS

Three works: (i) Small Lie (Brown); (ii) Small Lie (Black); (iii) Small Lie (Grey)

(i-iii) printed with the artist's name, date, fabricator and title 'KAWS..17 SMALL LIE MEDICOM TOY CHINA' on the underside
painted vinyl, in original Medicom packaging
(i-iii) 27.5 x 12.9 x 12.2 cm (10 7/8 x 5 1/8 x 4 3/4 in.)
(i-iii) Executed in 2017, this work is from a limited edition fabricated by Medicom Toy, Japan.

Estimate
£1,000 - 1,500 

Sold for £6,250

Contact Specialist
Simon Tovey
Head of Sale
+44 20 7318 4084

New Now

London Auction 11 April 2019