KAWS
dal 1/11/2013 al 20/12/2013
Segnalato da
1/11/2013
KAWS
Galerie Perrotin, New York
Pass the blame. For this exhibition, the artist features a series of works where several playful attitudes towards painting converge. KAWS embraces both worlds of pop and abstraction in a unique whimsical way.
Galerie Perrotin in New York is pleased to present the work of famed Brooklyn-based artist KAWS.
For this exhibition, the artist features a series of works where several playful attitudes towards painting converge. Taking from Andy Warhol and Roy
Lichtenstein, who found their sources in popular culture, and inspired by Frank Stella and Ellsworth Kelly, who submitted their paintings to a process
of abstraction and recomposition that extended to the shape of the canvas (where the canvas borders and depth became relevant), KAWS embraces
both worlds of pop and abstraction in a unique whimsical way.
The shape of KAWS’s canvases is not derived from the straight forward abstraction “post-painterly” artists championed but from figuration; they are
abstracted cartoon silhouettes not clearly rendered within the pictorial field. Presenting images that seem to have been shaken -spinning smaller fragments of seemingly cartoon mouths, teeth, eyes and silhouettes-, the paintings capture a cartoon whirlwind of parts and portions as they are about to
come into existence. Functioning as gateways to the world of popular imagery, cartoons and comics, these cornucopias furnish current sources of
reference, which in this century relate to mass media and animated drawings.
Placed within the white cube environment of a gallery space, the works with their shaped canvases interact with each other in unexpected manners.
Furthermore, the grouping of the paintings provides a charged environment where humans feel immersed in the leisure world of comics and cartoons.
KAWS is not simply introducing popular references, he is forcing the artworld to accept these as part of what for many is the real world they experienced growing up. As he taps into the popular psyche, he brings to life the very points of fascination, endearing memories, tender associations and
identifications with the world of cartoons that for many were profound experiences and just as meaningful as those in the real world.
Two solo exhibitions are currently on view: “UPS AND DOWNS” at The Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Overland Park, KS, USA, through
February 9, 2014 and “KAWS @ PAFA” at The Pennsylvania Academy of The Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA through January 5, 2014. Mary Boone Gallery, Chelsea New York will also present a sculptural exhibition, in cooperation with Galerie Perrotin, from November 2 through December 21, 2013.
Born in 1974 in Jersey City, USA, KAWS lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.
Image: SHOULD I BE ATTACKING, 2013, Acrylic on canvas over panel, 72 x 54 x 1 3/4 inches
182,9 x 137,2 x 4,4 cm, Photo: Farzad Owrang. Courtesy Galerie Perrotin
For additional information on Galerie Perrotin please contact:
Natacha Polaert - Nouvelle Garde - natacha@nouvellegarde.com
Héloïse Le Carvennec - Galerie Perrotin - heloise@perrotin.com
Galerie Perrotin
909 Madison Avenue & 73rd Street
Upper East Side, New York, NY 10021
Hours:
Tuesday - Saturday, 10am - 6pm