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KAWS
《天生彎曲》
完整圖錄內容
《天生彎曲》呈精緻的灰色調，是藝術家最喜愛也最具代表性的「BENDY」角色，有著標誌性的 X 形眼睛，交叉骨頭耳朵和彎曲的尾巴，圍著美國兒童經典角色「Gumby」的僵直造型。《天生彎曲》完好展現 KAWS 為大眾文化在藝術中的重新定位，建基於自2003年起以小玩偶形式開始的「BENDY」角色。一開始的玩具版本在過去十幾年間徹底演進了，成為不同尺寸的雕塑作品，刻意除掉所謂高階與低階藝術的區別。如 KAWS 所解釋，在他嘗試抹去玩具與雕塑之間的界限時，「對我來說，它們有著相同的思想過程，所以如果我做了一件大型的銅雕作品，就被稱為雕塑，做了一件小的塑料作品就是玩具的話，其實很可笑。」（KAWS，錄於 Carlo McCormick，< 從街頭到媒體至藝廊, KAWS 無所不在>， 《Paper》，2013年11月4日，網路文章）藝術家最具標誌性的創作角色之一，也是《天生彎曲》的另一個版本，於2013年在賓州藝術學院歷史性建築大門前作重點展覽，並於2016年亮相於藝術家在約克郡雕塑公園舉辦的首個英國個展，以及同年在沃斯堡現代美術館舉辦的「KAWS: 始於終點」展覽。《天生彎曲》展現出 KAWS 作品中最獨特迷人的雙重性質，激發觀者的懷舊與欣喜之情。
KAWS
American | 1974To 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.