Our friends at GUILLOTINE were on hand at the opening of KAWS‘ eponymous show of three new large-scale monochromatic paintings at esteemed Madrid GALERIE JAVIER LOPEZ. As predicted, KAWS spent a good part of the evening signing autographs for the throng of fans awaiting his first Spanish appearance where his presence was also felt at the concurrent ARCO art fair…
*Additional photos by Sinfe…
KAWS AT ARCO:
Vinyl toy fiend and diehard KAWS fanatic JEFF TOVERS went all the way and made his love eternal. Two more colorways to go, bro, send us photos when you wrap those up…
Supertouch buddy KAWS has just dropped a quick sneek peek of the installation of his eponymous new show of three large paintings in Madrid, Spain, at the esteemed GALERIA JAVIER LOPEZ opening February 17th (to coincide with the kickoff of ARCO Madrid). This show comes as a brief preview for what’s to come at the artist’s upcoming first ever museum show at THE ALDRICH MUSEUM opening June 2th. Meanwhile, here’s what the gallery has to say about the Jersey boy:
“The three monochromatic paintings in this exhibition mark the newest works on canvas by the artist, each using gloss line on a matte background. The two black works, “Nightime Office” and “Through the Door”, reuse the artist’s signature Kawsbob and Chum characters. Inserting them into claustrophobic compositions, these figures violently break through architectonic frameworks into the space of the viewer, pulling shattered material with them.
The largest work in the show, “Dead Wrong”, builds upon the rectilinear sections of the other works, yet combines both characters. Here, space becomes disjointed, conveying a stronger sense of collaged imagery. The fragmentation suggests a recombining and reconfiguration of separate paintings into an overall visual assault. A diminutive set of Kawsbob’s hands seem to pull the fabric of the canvas itself to cover his eyes from something imminent. The graphic Chum looms ominously in the background, rendered flat yet threatening.
By augmenting imagery whose origins are innocuous, Kaws subverts popular culture and presents a vision of panic and anxiety. Incorporating his signature “X”ed out eyes, the figures become premonitions of their own deaths, merging childlike imagery with abstract concept. High art strategies and popular icons become interchangeable. KAWS’ paintings at once recognize the way that popular images inseminate our lives and suggest the collapse of visual culture.”
Supertouch buddy KAWS checks in with a visual update on ROSSON CROW’s incredible solo show “Focus” at the FORT WORTH MODERN that opened on Saturday nite. Hailing from Plano, Texas, the red Corvette driving LA-based bad girl of the art world is one of the most incredible young talents on the scene who kicked ass and took names with her first solo museum show in her home state of Lone Star. The big show features a small collection of large scale works that were quickly upstaged by the Texas Rose herself who showed up at the opening decked out in a red, white, and blue sequined showgirl’s outfit, exuding state pride right down to her Texas flag manicure. The DALLAS MORNING NEWS took rightful notice:
“Rosson Crow is having one of life’s sweetest moments, and she may be too young to fully appreciate it. Just three years out of Yale’s master’s program, the 26-year-old has moved from gallery level to museum soloist with her “Focus” show, which opened Sunday at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.
This great career leap forward is happening only a few miles from her hometown of Plano, where she was known as Lauren. She became her more androgynous middle name when she launched her life as an artist … The high-glamour Crow is visually at odds with her large-scale paintings of defunct saloons, taxidermy shops and seedy nightclubs. She likes dark, raucous spaces that have a history, and she combs through archival photographs and American history books for inspirational images. She has incorporated photographs of Abraham Lincoln’s funeral cortège and the New York Stock Exchange at the turn of the century in her work.” Click HERE to read more.
A featured artist in LANCE ARMSTRONG’s upcoming Supertouch-curated “Stages” art show to benefit the anti-cancer LIVESTRONG foundation, Rosson Crow will be creating an original large-scale painting that will be premiered at the exhibition when doors open on July 16th at GALERIE EMMANUEL PERROTIN in Paris during the TOUR DE FRANCE. Stay tuned to ST for more updates coming soon. Meanwhile, HAVE A LOOK: Read the rest of this entry »
Too bad KAWS didn’t make Tex a custom pair of xtra-tight shorts to match…
Supertouch buddy LANCE ARMSTRONG is currently busy training in Nice, France, warming up on the epic Col de la Madone for this weekend’s competition at the legendary MILAN-SAN REMO day race. A difficult endurance trial for sprinters, the unusually long run will no doubt be made more palatable by the arrival of Lance’s new ride that will see him across the finish line: the KAWS x TREK MADONE 6.9. Keep an eye on ST for race updates this weekend…
The KAWS x Trek Madone 6.9 sunning in the south of France. Being the best cyclist in the world excuses you from not being the best photographer on earth…
Pop killer KAWS just put the finishing touches on his new design for Supertouch buddy LANCE ARMSTRONG’s new TREK Madone 6.9 road bike set to roll in the upcoming MILAN-SAN REMO race. Unveiled tonite at NIKE’s MONTALBAN THEATER by Lance himself, the cycle marks the kickoff of the new “Stages” art bike campaign being waged to help expand the LIVESTRONG foundation’s global anti-cancer fight. HAVE A LOOK: Read the rest of this entry »
…and it hits stands Monday, March 2nd. Don’t sleep.
KAWS‘ street hits were the freshest on the block back in ‘97 when an incredibly young-looking Brian Donnelley was getting busy on the billboards and bus stops of NYC and Tokyo on the regular. Here we see some rare footage of the youthful media manipulator on the go with commentary by fellow bomber RON ENGLISH…
Shepard and Amanda Fairey roll out the west coast welcome wagon for KAWS…
KAWS‘ anxiously anticipated new show “The Long Way Home,” opened its doors to an absolutely massive crowd at HONOR FRASER gallery in LA last nite, with a queue that wrapped entirely around the block (and then some) for the duration of the frenzied two-hour opening. KAWS’ incredibly well behaved legion of faithful followers did their best to make the Brooklyn-based artist feel welcome in his first west coast solo exhibition that featured new paintings (the largest of which went to collector and Supertouch buddy Lance Armstrong), sculptures, a 20″ solid bronze Chum figure and a new series of “Kurfs” and “Kawsbob” package paintings that were all spoken for well before the opening festivities kicked off. The evening’s attending “A-list” included Everlast, Todd James, Robert & Suzanne Williams, Lupe Fiasco, Rosson Crow, Eric Elms, Miguel de la Barracuda, Shepard & Amanda Fairey, Scott Campbell, actor & Iron Man II screenwriter Justin Theroux, Cassette Playa’s Carrie Mundane, LAMJC’s Michael Dupouy, ANP Quarterly’s Brendan Fowler, legendary Pop artist Kenny Scharf, and the incredible Chrome Hearts/Vice “Dont’s” column guy with the crusty egg whites in his spiked hair (see below). Of course, a lot of KAWS’ less savvy enthusiasts didn’t quite understand that a proper art opening is not the place to ask an artist to sign your entire toy collection carried along in plastic grocery bags and the message boards will no doubt be ablaze this morning with unwarranted hate mail from a wave of unsatisfied eBay flippers (along with the 200 or so fans who couldn’t get into the show because of mandatory time & fire marshal capacity constraints). A 600+ collector waiting list for the show’s 18 paintings, however, proved testament to the pure heat of KAWS’ unfulfilled demand in the art market and a huge story in the day’s LA Times was just icing on the cake. HAVE A LOOK (and tune in for opening photos tonite): Read the rest of this entry »
Friday was a big nite in the Midwest when SHEPARD FAIREY’s Ohio installment of his traveling retrospective “Supply & Demand” opened at the CINCINNATI CONTEMPORARY ARTS CENTER and shattered the institution’s all-time attendance record.
What has to be the final nail in the “Street Art” coffin was driven in last weekend by none other than MR. BRAINWASH (aka: “The Christian Audigier of Street Art”) when he opened his massive, self-produced “Icons” show in a rented space (which, ironically, was once a real art gallery, pre-recession) in the heart of Chelsea. As the subject of Brit Street Art king Banksy’s recent docu-parody film, “Exit Through The Gift Shop,” MBW has been the focus of much hype and speculation as his presence finally seeps into the fairly muddy stream of mainstream consciousness. Last week’s Wall Street Journal article articulated this particularly well:
One of the fashion world’s foremost visionary designers ALEXANDER McQUEEN was found dead today in his London apartment, an apparent suicide just days after the death of his mother, and the suicide of one of his close friends Isabella Blow, who discovered the young designer and helped forge his early career:
Despite MOCA’s financial woes of late and near collapse last year amid the chaos of the economic holocaust, the veritable Southland institution seems on to a bright future now, having secured ST buddy JEFFREY DEITCH as its new director (starting June 1) and financial security (for the moment). If ever there was a time to celebrate, it is now. HAVE A LOOK:
By now it’s no secret that JEFFREY DEITCH is closing shop in downtown NYC to head West for the sunnier confines of the MoCA Director’s office, starting June 1st. That leaves SHEPARD FAIREY’s upcoming portrait show as the farewell exhibition at one of the city’s most legendary and influential commercial art institutions in the city’s history.
J O'Shea/Editor
Shepard Fairey
Everlast
Dr Romanelli
Lupe Fiasco
Billy Gibbons
Christian Parkes
Davey Havok
Eric White
Erik Foss
Christian Hosoi
Josh Davis
Kenna
Mark Ryden
Masa/Three Tides
Sarah/Colette
Scott Campbell
Tim Biskup
WK Interact
Donny Miller
Lance Mountain
James Jean
Andy Cruz
Adam Glickman
Ron English
Jose Parla
D* Face
Eric Nakamura
Nathan Cabrera
Kostas Seremetis
Phil Frost
Kyle Ng
Suitman