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Property of an Important American Collector

6

KAWS

NYT

Estimate
HK$1,000,000 - 1,500,000
€120,000 - 181,000
$128,000 - 192,000
HK$1,625,000
Lot Details
acrylic on canvas
signed and dated "KAWS 12" on the reverse
diameter 152.4 cm (60 in.)
Painted in 2012.
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Catalogue Essay
NYT is a painting that portrays one of the characters that inhabit KAWS’ artistic universe, and demonstrates the artist’s creativity and striking ability to appropriate iconic characters and turn them at once into his own unique creation. Immediately reminiscent of the world of graffiti, billboards and advertising posters, with its vibrant colours and visual vocabulary, NYT portrays a puffy, inflated skull with crossed out 'X' eyes that lend a dark twist to the piece—a signature aspect of KAWS’ artistic language. The result is a figure that conveys great attraction yet maintains its emotional distance, rendering the subject matter somehow devoid of human characteristics and instantly cartoon in its exaggerations.

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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