Painted cast vinyl. Stamped on the underside of foot.
A matte black seated Companion repeats the burying-face gesture of his grey twin: the hands cover the eyes, the body sits hunched on a small black plinth, the X-marks subdued by tone-on-tone shadow. The black version is the more grave reading — refusal turned to a deeper silence. Painted cast vinyl, stamped on the underside of foot. From KAWS' celebrated 2013 Passing Through edition — to acquire it is to anchor a contemporary collection in one of the most universally understood sculptural multiples of the past decade.
KAWS (USA, 1974), born Brian Donnelly, is a contemporary artist and designer celebrated for his cartoon-inspired sculptures, paintings, and collectible toys. Merging street art and pop culture, his iconic 'Companion' figures and bold graphics have reached global audiences, bridging the worlds of fine art, fashion, and commercial design.
Mixed MediaMixed media refers to artwork that incorporates more than one medium within a single piece. Unlike multimedia art, which combines distinct forms of visual art and often includes elements like sound, video, or digital media, mixed media focuses on combining traditional art materials, such as paint, ink, and collage. Mixed media art allows artists to achieve a wide range of effects and textures by layering and blending different materials.
Painted cast vinyl. Stamped on the underside of foot.
A matte black seated Companion repeats the burying-face gesture of his grey twin: the hands cover the eyes, the body sits hunched on a small black plinth, the X-marks subdued by tone-on-tone shadow. The black version is the more grave reading — refusal turned to a deeper silence. Painted cast vinyl, stamped on the underside of foot. From KAWS' celebrated 2013 Passing Through edition — to acquire it is to anchor a contemporary collection in one of the most universally understood sculptural multiples of the past decade.
KAWS (USA, 1974), born Brian Donnelly, is a contemporary artist and designer celebrated for his cartoon-inspired sculptures, paintings, and collectible toys. Merging street art and pop culture, his iconic 'Companion' figures and bold graphics have reached global audiences, bridging the worlds of fine art, fashion, and commercial design.
Born Brian Donnelly but creating under a pseudonym, Kaws is an artist renowned for his acrylic paintings and sculptures that often employ repeated and distinctive graphics while reworking highly recognisable pop culture icons – Companion is one of his most notable sculptures, a large-scale, clown-like and darker take on the universally-recognised Mickey Mouse. Kaws’ early foray into art was through the form of street-graffiti; his trademark ‘x’ symbol, often applied over the hands, eyes and mouths of his characters, sprung from this phase in which Kaws would often replace public advertisements with his own artwork, a technique known as subvertising. Kaws uses a number of different materials throughout his creative processes including wood, aluminium, fiberglass and a steel pontoon inflatable raft; he has also collaborated with numerous companies and artists including Santastic! and John Mayer. (Artist website)
Sometimes known as Figurativism, figurative art refers to sculptures and paintings that are clearly or specifically derived from real objects, making them representational. The term figurative art is often used in contrast to abstract art. However, since the emergence of abstract art, figurative art has come to describe any form of modern art that has strong references to the real world or actual situations.