Late last month, Central Embassy witnessed something that has never happened since its opening: a crowd of people, camping out and waiting in line to get inside the store. The mob of fans were there to meet and greet Brian Donnelly, better known as KAWS, and get their hands on his latest works.
The New York-based contemporary artist was in Bangkok for just one day to unveil his latest sculpture and collectibles. KAWS started out as a graffiti artist in the early 1990s, when he subverted advertisements and pop culture figures on billboards, phone booths and bus shelters, slowly gaining a fan base and notoriety that resulted in his works being increasingly sought after. Today, he is known widely for his vinyl toys, paintings and gigantic sculptures of his cute, dark and rebellious comic characters, which rework pop-culture icons like Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny and the Michelin Man. Sponge Bob, The Simpsons and Snoopy also got into the mix. His fans -- including the likes of Pharrell Williams and G-Dragon -- await every new creation with devoted enthusiasm, as witnessed by the throngs outside Central Embassy.
A cult icon in the contemporary art world, the soft-spoken, articulate and seemingly very shy (or jet-lagged) artist sat down with the press on the day of the launch to talk about his art, and especially his new 8m-tall BFF sculpture in Bangkok.
What pushed you to start working on art?
It wasn't any specific artist or anything in particular. When I was younger I was always inclined towards making art. In school I wasn't really focused on English and maths. It was sort of the place that I would go to. It didn't seem when I was younger that this was something that I would pursue as a profession. It's just over time, the other options became less feasible and I realised, 'Oh, this is something that I'm going to do'.
How did your fame accumulate?
S.K Lam, Brian Donnelley (KAWS) and Barom Bhicharnchitr. Photo courtesy of KAWS: BFF
Creating street art like tagging was something that was most easily accessible, so I started from there. And since its artwork done in public, people started talking about it and consuming it so it became my signature.
I haven't done street art in 10 years. It seems like journalists tend to hark on street art. Even when I was doing work on the street, I wasn't thinking, 'Oh, this is street art'. I wasn't thinking in that category. In my mind I was just making art. Sometimes it's just street art, sometimes its toy design, sometimes when it's in the gallery they call it contemporary art. To me it doesn't matter what the label is.
How did you come up with your signature soft skull, crossbones and crossed out eyes?
At a certain point when I was just doing traditional graffiti and when I got into painting over advertisements, I sort of let lettering fall away to bring an iconic work forward, and the skull and crossbones just became a signature thing. Over time, I find a lot of interest in reinventing the same motif and where I can take it into new places, and reinterpret it in new ways.
So why come to Thailand?
I was always aware that there was an audience here for my work, and I've never had physically, an original piece [here]. You can see stuff all day long online, but there's nothing like getting work in front of people. For me that's a goal in what I do. It seemed like a good time and a great opportunity to get the work physically in front of the people in Thailand.
Tell us about the concept of BFF, why rework a Muppet?
When I was thinking of doing this sculpture I wanted to create something with a new texture and a new feeling from Companion. The body is kind of similar to Accomplice, who was also a departure with me, character-wise, and it seems like it fit within the framework of the older ones. I try to create these emotive structures that people can come and see. It's not particularly sad, he's really expressionless. But I think giving the fur texture gives it a certain vulnerability to it.
With the sculptures, it's sort of making a continuation of my works. It's not, 'Oh, BFF is a lone concept'. It's sort of adding a family member to the existing sculptures I created. A lot of times when I'm creating a sculpture, it's just a visceral feeling that they can give off, and you can take what you can from BFF.
How do you decide which cartoons or figures to rework?
It's more of a personal gravitation towards different companies or different characters. I tend to think something like BFF is something like a bastard from many different cartoons and when I'm using the characters or cartoons and using them in my paintings, it's not that I'm drawn to the narrative. It's more aesthetically, I'm using pieces as sort of abstract ways in creating compositions. So it's more of a visual thing. It has to some way, I feel, connect to my interests.
Have you ever felt limitations or obstacles in your work?
At the end of the day it's only art. There's always limitations but whenever I hit a wall, I always think of it not as being negative, but just something that's not right for that moment. I try to stay pretty open minded and move around things. So if there's something that's not possible to do at the moment, I can revisit it in one year, two years, five years and then it sort of makes sense. There are obstacles in everything. I guess I'm optimistic, but not usually.
Any upcoming projects?
The main thing I'm working on at the moment is a show in October at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth in Texas. It'll be a 20-year survey of my work -- so 100-to-150 pieces, starting with when I started making things that were tangible. So the painted-over ads from 1996 up till the present. It's something that we've been working for a while, around two years or so. It'll start at Fort Worth Texas and move to Shanghai in 2017.
KAWS: BFF installation and exhibition will run until July 31. All BFF merchandise sold out on launch day.
Brian Donnelly, aka KAWS. photoS: Jiraporn Kuhakan
