
Perrotin is proud to announce simultaneous exhibitions in its Tokyo and Hong Kong galleries by the multifaceted American artist KAWS. Both shows represent ahomecoming of sorts for KAWS, who fortified his creative career in Tokyo in the early-2000s and was the first artist to exhibit in the gallery’s Hong Kong space in 2012.
Considered one of the most relevant artists of his generation, KAWS engages audiences beyond the museums and galleries in which he regularly exhibits. His prolific body of influential work straddles the worlds of art and design to include paintings, murals, large-scale sculptures, street art, and graphic and product design. Over the last two decades KAWS has built a successful career with work that consistently shows his formal agility as an artist, as well as his underlying wit, irreverence, and affection for our times. He often draws inspiration and appropriates from pop culture animations to form a unique artistic vocabulary for his works across various mediums.
Now admired for his larger-than-life sculptures and hardedge paintings that emphasize line and color, KAWS’ cast of hybrid cartoon and human characters are perhaps the strongest examples of his exploration of humanity. His refined graphic language revitalizes figuration with big, bold gestures and keen, playful intricacy. As seen in his collaborations with global brands, KAWS’ imagery possesses a sophisticated humor and reveals a thoughtful interplay with consumer products. Highly sought-after by collectors inside and outside of the art world, KAWS’ artworks, with their broad appeal, establish him as a uniquely prominent artist in today’s culture.
KAWS (Brian Donnelly, born 1974) is an American artist and designer known for his cartoon-influenced characters, Pop-inflected paintings, sculptures, and large-scale public installations that blur the boundaries between street art, fine art, and commercial design. His works—featuring recurring figures such as COMPANION and BFF—have appeared on city streets, in blue-chip galleries and museums, and in high-profile collaborations with fashion, music, and lifestyle brands. In his adaption of the rules of contemporary cultural production and consumption, his practice both critiques and participates in consumer culture.





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