“The PACKAGE PAINTINGS were my way of getting my imagery onto canvas. I had been painting nearly all my life, but not with these forms on this material. After making them, I dropped the packaging and began to paint on larger canvases.” —KAWS
The PACKAGE PAINTINGS marked a pivotal point in KAWS’s career as it signaled his move from street art and design into the world of fine art, catapulting his work to worldwide fame.
KAWS purposefully opted not to invent new symbols in his art, feeling that modern society was already inundated with a blitz of imagery. Instead, he chose to rework established, universally-recognised emblems. Drawing inspiration from Pop Artists such Andy Warhol who appropriated mass culture imagery (most notoriously Coca-Cola bottles and Campbell soup cans) and Roy Lichtenstein, whose work emulated the artistic style of comic book illustrations, KAWS skilfully utilized the public’s familiarity with popular visual culture to convey his artistic message.
KAWS encased his canvas, featuring his take on The Simpsons’ Krusty the Clown modified with the signature ‘X’ eyes, in a blister pack together with triangular cutout for hanging merchandise on pegboards, and affixed it to a cardstock backing with modified character silhouettes derived from his trademark skulls and crossbones. The character is depicted in a freeze-action vignette, reminiscent of animation cells. By presenting his painted canvas in the same commercial packaging format used by toy manufacturers, KAWS bridged the opposing worlds of commerce and fine art by merging their incongruent materials. [1]
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.
signed and dated 'KAWS.. 01' on the reverse of the canvas acrylic on canvas in blister package canvas 40.8 x 40.8 cm. (16 1/8 x 16 1/8 in.) overall 58 x 47 x 7 cm. (22 7/8 x 18 1/2 x 2 3/4 in.) Executed in 2001.