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. With In The New York Times Magazine: KAWS
Posted Under: Artists,Brand Underground,Consumed,Subculture Inc.
New Looks
An established art entrepreneur makes his way into a new realm — the art world.
This week in Consumed, Brian Donnelly, a/k/a KAWS, and the relationship between art, markets, and value.
At 33, Brian Donnelly is enjoying a successful art career. Working out of a studio in Brooklyn, he has sold paintings to Pharrell Williams, the rapper and producer; Nigo, the designer-entrepreneur; and Takashi Murakami, the international art star, among others. He has also created a variety of products including toys, apparel and even pillows — and indeed he has his own store, Original Fake, in Tokyo. He has also been widely known in the “street art” world for years; one of his early altered-phone-booth-ad posters recently traded hands on eBay for $22,000. One thing Donnelly had not done until lately, however, is forge a relationship with a dealer or art gallery. This wasn’t because he shunned or had a problem with the traditional gallery system. He says it’s just that “nobody asked.”
[Now he has a bunch of gallery shows and relationship with a gallerist who] figures there’s another market for his work. “I think it needs to get out there in the art world,” she says.
Read the whole column in the August 3, 2008, issue of The New York Times Magazine, or right here.
Additional links*: KAWS site; Donnelly’s blog; Edward Winkleman’s blog; John Jay’s blog; Gering & López Gallery site.
Consumed archive is here, and FAQ is here. Consumed Facebook page is here.
[*QUESTION: I used to do this “additional links” thing all the time, then I stopped. Is it useful? Do you want it? Please let me know.]
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Reader Comments
KAWS has been doing his thing for a long time now and completely deserves the recognition he’s getting. that said, i’ve been in the graffiti world for about 15 years now (i don’t write anymore), and it seems like the market has a nearly limitless appetite for graffiti-inspired fine art (KAWS, banksy, obey, etc) yet real writers get almost no recognition despite toiling away for years. it’s been nice to see all the Seventh Letter guys get some press in the past year or so, but there are plenty more people out there who deserve it too.
any ideas on why the “stuff white people like” crowd loves banksy and kaws but not Toomer or Retna?
Well, you’ve put in an extremely bad mood by referencing that idiotic “white people” thing. I would prefer that never ever be mentioned on Murketing.com again. I want nothing to do with.
Anyway. I think the answer is sort of in the piece itself, the fine art world doesn’t really pay attention to the street art world. This gallerist he’s working with had never heard of him, and her interest doesn’t have any connection to the stuff he’s known for in street art land. And since he never pursued that world, he’s come to it in this roundabout way. Etc.
Banksy’s trajectory has been very different, he’s been embraced by the art world and is a feature of that Tate show. I suspect this is a reflection of the mainstream press attention he’s gotten. Another factor, again indicated in the piece, is what sort of effort the artist makes to get into that world. In the case of Banksy, I remember a couple years ago getting a call from his publicist (!) right in the middle of the whole first wave of “who is banksy?” hype.
At the end of the day, the reason I avoid debates about street art/graf cred is that it’s an impossible discussion. There’s always someone else with more cred who isn’t getting what they deserve. I’m not trying to say Donnelly deserves this or Banksy doesn’t that or whatever. I’m just trying to shed some light on how things worked in this particular instance.
Kaws is like space. No one really knows why its there. No one really knows where it ends. No one really knows how it was made. All people know about is its not going no where.
And in 1964 when Mom didn’t approve of you buying that Brillo box for $350. You should have pimp slapped her, and added a $1,500 soup can in your cart.
Buy it while you still can people.
Kaws: Let them laugh now. You fly to Maui later.
rob, good answer. you are correct that the graffiti vs. street art debate is pointless and should be nipped in the bud. good thinking.
finn, that’s a generous reply to a somewhat intemperate comment on my part — I was in a bit of a mood.
ANYWAY, on an unrelated (to this post) note ,there was an hourlong report on the business of MMA last night on CNBC!
…………… the reason why kaws, banksy and Obey get more play than someone like retna is pretty simple….. their works reflect or include or alter subject matter that is identifiable and relavent to the masses. the simpsons altered….. andre the giant….. a rat with a bonb strapped to its back……… these images make far more sense than a ‘word’ that the masses cant read or interpret………………………………………………….. throw in their celebrity friends and shakinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnyg.