他创作的巨型吹气作品曾现身韩国首尔石村湖面，也曾出现在美国纽约梅西百货的感恩节巡游中；他画笔下的角色被印在优衣库T恤上发售，画作更在拍卖中以破亿港元成交……以下我们为您罗列出关于这位魅力席卷全球艺术界、现今正如日中天的艺术家——KAWS，您有必要知道的十大要点。
1
KAWS并非他的真名
生于1974年的KAWS，真正的名字是布莱恩·唐纳利（Brian Donnelly）。他毕业于纽约视觉艺术学院插画系，在艺坛成名前曾为多套动画担任背景画师，例如迪士尼出品的《101斑点狗》（101 Dalmations），以及人气卡通《Daria》和《阿德日记》（Doug）。唐纳利年轻时便在新泽西州和曼哈顿的建筑物上涂上“KAWS”字样的涂鸦，他选用“KAWS”一词纯粹因为喜欢这四个字母排列在一起的样子。
KAWS（1974年生）《无题（阿童木）》，手绘树脂，47 x 32 x 11.2 cm.，估价︰150,000 - 200,000 美元。此拍品正于即日至8月19日佳士得纽约“Trespassing”网上拍卖呈献
2
他曾是涂鸦艺术家
不过，唐纳利很快便舍弃这种简单的涂鸦，改为开始在巴士站广告上添加卡通化人物，发展出独特的风格。他后来更在一系列丝网版画中复制这些早期的创意广告作品，其中包括一幅戏谑Calvin Klein的广告：他画出一个绿色的人物，拥抱广告中的超模克莉丝蒂·杜灵顿（Christy Turlington）。
KAWS（1974年生） 《Ad Disruption（Prima/Paris）》， 压克力 宣传海报， 173.5 x 120.1 cm.，估价︰100,000 - 150,000 美元。此拍品正于即日至8月19日佳士得纽约“Trespassing”网上拍卖呈献
唐纳利的涂鸦背景令他的作品受众甚广，其中许多人甚至与艺术界毫不相干。KAWS与大部分艺术家不同，他的艺术生涯并非始于画廊；他深谙在街头展示作品的好处，也明白大量生产作品能吸引支持者。随着他的支持者与日俱增，藏家与艺评家亦也慢慢开始注意到他。回想自己早期的涂鸦创作时，唐纳利称：“在涂鸦时我脑海中只有一个念头 ‘我只想存在’ ，我想藉这种视觉语言存在于世界上……若我无法接触大众，那作画并没有意义。”
3
靠玩具成名
在著名玩具及街头时装品牌Bounty Hunter的邀请下，KAWS于1999年到访日本，其后创作出首件玩具“COMPANION”（同伴）。
KAWS（1974 年生） 《COMPANION（KARIMOKU 版）》，木制限量作品，27 x 13 x 6 cm.，2011年作，估价：30,000 - 50,000 美元。此拍品正于即日至8月19日佳士得纽约“Trespassing”网上拍卖呈献
限量500个的COMPANION玩具几乎马上售罄，这个形象亦成为KAWS作品中经常出现的角色。
4
现今如日中天
2019年3月，长121英尺（约307.34 cm.）的充气COMPANION于巴塞尔艺术展（Art Basel）期间在香港维多利亚港展出。这个名为《KAWS：假期》（KAWS: HOLIDAY）的作品以40吨重的锚固定在海上，在香港展出前曾先后亮相首尔和台北，是KAWS近年声名大噪的新作。
KAWS（1974年生） 《假期》，韩国首尔石村湖，2018年作。图片由KAWS和AllRightsReserved Ltd.提供
KAWS在2000年代已非常成功，而据2019年《Artnet艺术市场预测报告》指出，其作品的平均价格几乎翻倍，由42,272美元升至82,063美元。2018年11月，KAWS共有5件作品以超过100万美元的价格成交，而其作品的全年拍卖成交总额更超过3,300万美元。
5
社交网站上的超高人气
KAWS能在现代艺坛冒起成名，关键之一在于他在社交媒体非常受欢迎。在本文撰文之时，带有#kaws标签的Instagram帖文超过130万则，远超过杰夫·昆斯（Jeff Koons）的38.7万则和达明安·赫斯特（Damien Hirst）的22.6万则。专家估计原因之一也许是网上平台能如实呈现出KAWS作品的鲜明波普艺术风格，亦与其街头艺术家出身有关。
KAWS（1974年生） 《CHUM（粉色）》，彩绘 铜雕 雕塑，52 (H) x 33 x 15.2 cm.，2009年作。2020年7月10日于佳士得香港现代及当代艺术晚间拍卖以3,000,000港元成交。艺术品：© KAWS
6
与巴斯奇亚和哈林相提并论
被策展人及艺术史学家Michael Auping形容为“克莱门特·格林伯格（Clement Greenberg）最可怕的噩梦”，KAWS被视为纽约艺坛的惊世才子，许多人更将他与尚·米榭·巴斯奇亚（Jean-Michel Basquiat）和凯斯·哈林（Keith Haring）两位由街头艺术起步的著名艺术家比较，更把KAWS与安迪·沃荷（Andy Warhol）及杰夫·昆斯相提并论，这两位艺术家都深明艺术在机械生产化的时代所能产生的各种可能性。
KAWS（1974年生） 《Ups and Downs》，全套十幅彩色丝网印刷版画，每幅︰89 x 58 cm.，估价：60,000 - 80,000 美元。此拍品正于即日至8月19日佳士得纽约“Trespassing”网上拍卖呈献
KAWS曾提及启发他的人物，包括克拉斯·欧登伯格（Claes Oldenburg）、汤姆·韦塞尔曼（Tom Wesselman）和村上隆等人，他更指村上隆的“接纳和跨界项目”对他影响尤深。
7
以改造经典角色闻名
佳士得专家Noah Davis指出：“没有卡通能逃得过被KAWS改造的命运。” KAWS以颠覆经典卡通人物闻名，从而展示自己对其普世文化价值的浓厚兴趣，并强调在他的世界里没有“高等”和“低等”艺术之分。
KAWS（1974年生） 《辛普森家庭》，压克力 画布，分六部分。各部分尺寸：30.5 x 30.5 x 3.8 cm.，2005年作。2018年9月27日于佳士得纽约以516,500美元成交。艺术品：© KAWS
8
曾为梅西感恩节巡游设计一个充气作品
2012年，KAWS的COMPANION气球在纽约梅西百货感恩节巡游上飘过曼哈顿的街头：戴上手套的一双大手掩着XX形的双眼。COMPANION与米奇老鼠、超音鼠等卡通人物同场出现，进一步证明KAWS能将艺术转化成大众喜爱的精彩作品。
9
跨界作品
KAWS于2000年代初成功推出时装品牌Original Fake后，便开始与Bathing Ape和Supreme等多个极受欢迎的街头服品牌合作。在2008年，他为歌手Kanye West的专辑《808s & Heartbreak》设计封面，最近更设计了自己专属的Nike Air Jordan球鞋。
KAWS（1974年生） 《Plush BFF x Dior（黑、粉紅）》，涤纶 毛绒 迪奥牛仔服及西装，共两件。每件：45.7(H) x 25 x 10 cm.，2019年作。2020年7月11日于佳士得香港现代及当代艺术日间拍卖以250,000港元成交。艺术品：© KAWS
2019年的巴黎时装周上，Dior设计师Kim Jones推出2019年春夏系列，当中包括KAWS演绎的Dior经典蜜蜂图案，同场更展出一个33呎高、由粉红色鲜花堆砌而成的KAWS经典人物“BFF”，这尊雕塑后来更缩小成身穿迷你Dior西装的限量版玩具。
KAWS亦曾与坎帕纳兄弟（Campana brothers）合作推出一系列铺满布偶的ji，并在巴塞尔艺术展迈阿密展会推出，随即被Travis Scott与Kylie Jenner悉数购藏。
10
他的作品售价从十几美元到上百万美元不等
KAWS与曾共同创立Bathing Ape、现在担任优衣库生活时尚副线UT创意总监的NIGO合作，目前的作品系列包括T裇、卫衣、连帽卫衣和玩具，全部重新刻划儿童节目《芝麻街》（Sesame Street）的角色。系列产品售价均在50美元以下，并以 “You’re never too old for the street” 为宣传口号。
KAWS（1974年生） 《CHUM（KCB7）》，压克力 画布 画板，213.3 x 172.7 cm.，2012年作。2018年11月15日于佳士得纽约以2,412,500美元成交。艺术品：© KAWS
与之形成鲜明对比的是，佳士得也曾于2018年11月在纽约战后及当代艺术晚间拍卖中，以高达2,412,500美元拍出KAWS的2012年画作《CHUM (KCB7)》，成交价几乎为拍前高估价的五倍之多。
10 things to know about KAWS
The artist is taking the art world by storm — his giant inflatables have graced a lake in Seoul and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, his characters feature on T-shirts, and his paintings sell for eight-figure sums at auction
1KAWS is not his real name
Brian Donnelly (b. 1974) studied illustration at the School of Visual Arts in New York. Before he achieved success as an artist he worked as a background painter on animated series such as Disney’s 101 Dalmations, and cult shows Daria and Doug.
2KAWS started out as a graffiti artist
From an early age Donnelly was known for marking buildings in New Jersey and Manhattan with ‘KAWS’, a tag he chose because he liked the way the letters looked together. He soon moved on from this simple tag, however, and developed a unique style that involved adding cartoon-like figures to bus-shelter advertisements.
Later, he would replicate these early works of ‘subvertising’ in a series of screenprint lithographs. These included a mock Calvin Klein ad, featuring supermodel Christy Turlington being embraced by a green figure.
His origins in graffiti brought his work to a diverse audience, many of whom had nothing to do with the art world. Unlike most artists, KAWS did not start out with a gallery; he was fully aware of the benefits of showing his work in the street and mass-producing pieces in order to build a following. This following became so big that it attracted the attention of collectors and critics.
Speaking of his early days as a graffiti artist, Donnelly said, ‘When I was doing graffiti, my whole thought was, “I just want to exist.” I want to exist with this visual language in the world… It meant nothing to me to make paintings if I wasn’t reaching people.’
3KAWS made his name with toys
In 1999 KAWS visited Japan after being approached by Bounty Hunter, the cult toy and streetwear brand. He would go on to create his first toy, ‘COMPANION’.
Produced in an edition of 500, the toys sold out almost immediately, and COMPANION became a recurring figure in KAWS’s work.
4KAWS is having a moment
In March 2019, a 121-foot-long inflatable version of KAWS’s COMPANION was installed in Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour during Art Basel. Anchored by a 40-ton weight, versions of the piece — dubbed KAWS: HOLIDAY — were previously on view in Seoul and Taipei, and mark the latest step in the artist’s rise to fame over recent years.
Although KAWS was successful in the 2000s, the 2019 Artnet Intelligence Report reports that in 2017 his average sale price almost doubled, from $42,272 to $82,063. In November 2018, five KAWS pieces sold for more than $1 million, and across the year his work realised over $33.8 million at auction.
5He’s big on Instagram
KAWS’s success on social media has been a big factor in his surge to the forefront of the contemporary art world. At the time of writing, more than 900,000 posts bearing the hashtag #kaws had been posted on Instagram, compared to 300,000 for Jeff Koons and 192,000 for Damien Hirst. Specialists have speculated that this could partly be down to the fact that his bright, Pop-art style reproduces faithfully online, but this popularity can also be attributed to KAWS’s origins as a street artist.
6KAWS and the comparisons to Basquiat and Haring
Described by curator and art historian Michael Auping as ‘[Clement] Greenberg’s worst nightmare’, KAWS is seen as the enfant terrible of the New York art world. Many have compared him to Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring, whose own inimitable styles started out on the street, as well as Andy Warhol and Jeff Koons, who both had an instinctive understanding of the possibilities of art in the age of mechanical reproduction.
KAWS has name-checked his influences, which vary from Claes Oldenburg and Tom Wesselman to Takashi Murakami, the latter in terms of what the artist describes as ‘acceptance and crossover projects’.
7He’s known for appropriating beloved characters
No cartoon is safe from being consumed and turned into KAWS: the artist is known for subverting iconic cartoon heroes and in doing so he demonstrates his interest in the characters’ universal cultural value, reinforcing the idea that he makes no distinction between concepts of ‘high’ and ‘low’ art.
8He once designed a float for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
In 2012 a KAWS COMPANION balloon was seen floating down the streets of Manhattan as part of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, its XX eyes covered by large gloved hands. Its appearance alongside characters as Mickey Mouse and Sonic the Hedgehog provided further proof of KAWS’s ability to transform art into a spectacle for mass consumption.
9KAWS and collaboration
After successfully launching his own fashion label, Original Fake, in the early 2000s, KAWS began working with a number of cult streetwear labels, including Bathing Ape and Supreme.
In 2019, Paris Fashion Week saw Dior designer Kim Jones debut his Spring/Summer 2019 collection with a KAWS interpretation of the fashion house’s iconic bee design, set against the backdrop of a 33-ft tall pink flower sculpture of KAWS’s ‘BFF’ character, reproduced as an editioned toy in a mini Dior suit.
KAWS has also collaborated with the Campana brothers on a range of furniture covered in plush toys, which debuted at Art Basel Miami and was immediately snapped up by Travis Scott and Kylie Jenner.
10KAWS’s work sells for as little as $15 and as much as $3.8 million
Recently, KAWS teamed up with NIGO, originally of Bathing Ape fame and creative director of Uniqlo's LifeWear UT line. His collection with the Japanese brand saw him redrawing beloved Sesame Street characters on a collection of T-shirts, sweatshirts, hoodies and toys. All priced under $50, the pieces featured the tagline, ‘You’re never too old for the street’.
In contrast, in a monumental triptych IN THE WOODS (2002) sold for $3,855,000 in 2019 at Christie’s in New York — more than double its high estimate.
温钦画廊私洽代理国际顶流艺术家的原作（如果客户有其他特定艺术家作品的需求，我们会用海外艺术资源为您寻找）:
巴勃罗·毕加索 Pablo Picasso,安迪.沃霍尔, 文森特.梵高Vincent Gogh, 亨利.马蒂斯Henri Matisse, 弗里达·卡罗 F.KAHLO, 格哈德·里希特 G.Richter, 威廉·阿道夫·布格罗 W A Bouguereau, 马克·夏加尔M. Chagall, 克劳德·莫奈 C.Monet, 伦勃朗·哈尔曼松·凡·莱因 Rembrandt, 圭尔奇诺 Guercino, 马蒂亚·普雷蒂 Preti, 翁贝特·波丘尼 U. Boccioni, 鲁西奥·芳塔纳 L.Fontana, 弗朗西斯·培根 F. Bacon, 让-米歇尔.巴斯奎特J.M.Basquiat, 拉斐尔·桑西 Raffaello, 卡纳列托 A. Canaletto, 保罗·委罗内塞 Veronese, 皮埃尔.奥古斯特.雷诺阿 P.A. Renoir, 保罗.塞尚P.Cezanne, 雷尼·马格利特 R.Magritte, 萨尔瓦多.达利 S. Dali, 阿梅代奥.莫迪利亚尼 A.Modigliani, 希罗尼穆斯·博斯 H.Bosch, 弗朗西斯科.戈雅 F.Goya, 彼得.保罗.鲁本斯 P.P. Rubens, 丁托列托 Tintoretto, 弗朗索瓦·布歇 F. Boucher, 安东尼·凡·克 A.Van Dyck, 弗朗西斯柯·德·苏巴朗 F. Zurbaran, 草间弥生, Kaws, 奈良美智, 赵无极等