KAWS

By Spencer Fowler Steen

A new exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) explores themes of loneliness, social isolation, friendship and generosity on a large scale.

Think seven-metre tall bronze statue sort of scale.

Internationally renowned US artist Brian Donnelly, also known as KAWS, has built more than 100 giant bronze statues and other weird and wonderful cartoon-inspired sculptures over his 25-year career.

His work features altered pop-culture figures inspired by his early beginnings in the 1990s New York street art scene.

Always the ambitious graffiti artist, KAWS expanded across Jersey City and Manhattan through painting large-scale pieces on walls, billboards and the sides of freight trains moving across the country.

During this time he developed his signature motif, the skull and crossbones, which he painted over the faces of people in late ‘90s Manhattan advertising posters, a process he called “subvertising.”

NGV director Tony Ellwood said the exhibition, titled Companionship in the Age of Loneliness, combined humour, melancholy, hope and humanity to create a “truly contemporary” perspective that had connected with audiences world-wide.

“KAWS really does engage with universal feelings of isolation and loneliness. His larger than life sculptures are playful, toy-like figures, however on closer inspection, they also reveal a fragility and a darkness through their vulnerability,” he said.

His colossal new statue, GONE, is an emotional representation of loss with the pose reminiscent of the famous Renaissance sculpture Pietà by Michelangelo, which depicts the lifeless Christ cradled in his mother’s arms after the crucifixion, according to the artwork label.

In another series of paintings recreating the popular American-Belgian animated television series w the label said KAWS turned the individual characters into a frightened group seemingly menaced by a dictatorial Papa Smurf.

Alongside these dark depictions, there’s also a free child exhibition called KAWS: PLAYTIME offering a rich sensory experience with interactive multimedia.

The exhibition allows kids to explore colourful nooks where they can use “creative kits” and pose in a photo booth with custom filters designed by KAWS, with the option to share their photos on social media.

Minister for the Creative Industries Martin Foley said the main exhibition was a reminder of how social isolation and loneliness were increasingly a risk in this “complex and hectic” modern world. 

“Through exhibitions like this we can see that connection is vital to our wellbeing, our minds and our collective society,” he said.

“It brings people together from our increasingly diverse community.”

Both exhibitions will be on display from September 20, 2019 to April 13, 2020 at NGV.

Adult tickets for Companionship in the Age of Loneliness are priced at $20, $17 for concession card holders and $10 for children.