This Friday, the Brooklyn Museum will open its doors for its latest exhibit, What Party, a career-spanning survey of beloved pop artist KAWS. On display, guests will find more than 100 works, including graffiti, sculptures, notebooks, furniture, wonky advertisements, plenty of his trademark COMPANION figures, and even some new pieces made just for the exhibition.
As a companion piece to the exhibit for the Brooklyn-based artist, Phaidon will also release a monograph celebrating the beloved artist’s first 25 years. Not only will you find a fully illustrated catalogue, but it will include essays from art critic Daniel Birnbaum and Brooklyn Museum curators Eugenie Tsai and John and Barbara Vogelstein.
According to the Phaidon site, “This book, made in close collaboration with the artist, features his most well-known works alongside sketches, preparatory drawings, and never-before-seen images of KAWS at work, revealing the meticulous process behind his iconic artworks.”
KAWS, otherwise known as Brian Donnelly, grew up in New Jersey and attended the School of Visual Arts for illustration. After he began to make a name for himself in the world of street art and graffiti, he quickly pivoted to designing toys in addition to clothing for a plethora of fashion labels and name brands. He’s produced massive installations and sculptures and even designed record covers for Kanye West. While he has garnered comparisons to the likes of Keith Haring, Jeff Koons, and Andy Warhol, he is a steady fixture of the contemporary art world, and his works coexist within the realm of fine art and the most enviable of cultures, the popular kind.
While a signed edition was available from the publisher, it has since sold out. However, you can head over to the MoMA store and snag one (or all) of the four limited editions for sale in black, pink, orange, or a very 2021 yellow, and they will ship out beginning in June. The retrospective at the Brooklyn Museum will run until September 5th of this year.
