The graffiti artist from Jersey who disrupted the Art World, Reasons To Invest In KAWS
July 6, 2020

The graffiti artist from Jersey who disrupted the Art World

Reasons To Invest In KAWS

 

Over the last 10 years, graffiti artist turned blue-chip darling, KAWS has become a household name with his cartoonish iconography, gigantic sculptures, collectable toys and vibrant paintings.

 With a background in street art, KAWS perfected his practice by defacing billboards around New York City. Since then the prolific artist has gone on to collaborate with a multitude of brands including Dior, Marc Jacobs, Uniqlo and Comme Des Garçons, amassing over 2.7 million followers on Instagram along the way.

It's safe to say the cult of KAWS is well and truly happening - which is why we've rounded up a few reasons below that outline why this artist is one you should consider investing in. 


 

His recent auction results exceeded estimates

 Last year, KAWS made headlines when demand for his work reached a new level at several international auction houses. Straddling the world of both high art and consumer culture, the artist's auction record was shattered when a 2005 painting, titled THE KAWS ALBUM, sold for HK$115.9 million ($14.8 million) at Sotheby's in Hong Kong-nearly 15 times the high estimate and more than five times his previous record of $2.7 million, which was set just last year

The KAWS Album. Image courtesy of Sotheby's

The 2019 Artnet Intelligence Report reports that in 2017 his average sale price almost doubled, from $42,272 to $82,063 and in 2018, KAWS' work achieved over $33.8 million at auction.

He's the enfant terrible of the New York art world

KAWS is seen as the enfant terrible of the New York art world. Many have compared him to Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring, whose own inimitable styles started out on the street, as well as Andy Warhol and Jeff Koons, who both had an instinctive understanding of the possibilities of art in the age of mechanical reproduction.

Presenting the Past, 2014

Rejected by the art elite and shunned by traditional art critics, KAWS' mass appeal continues to divide. "I'm sure he's a super nice guy and a great businessman." said art advisor and publisher Josh Baer, "but I don't think that the history of art will go: Matisse, Pollock, Johns, Basquiat, KAWS. If you think that Paris Hilton and the Kardashians are important cultural figures, then you're likely to think KAWS is an important artist."

He has changed the contemporary art scene

In 2012, KAWS created a scene-stealing 14-foot balloon for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade which appeared alongside iconic characters such as Mickey Mouse and Sonic the Hedgehog. Demonstrating proof of KAWS' talent at transforming art into a spectacle for mass consumption, the inimitable artist has disrupted the art scene by breaking down the barriers between 'high' art and 'low' art.

His work continues to surprise and delight

His landscape changing Land Art has also been applauded by art critics and curators, particularly his "KAWS: Holiday" project, for which the artist installed a 37-meter sculpture of one of his "Companion" figures in locations around the world. "I've always been interested in public art," the artist says. "A lot of the reason of how I make work is about communication, it's about creating a dialogue with the viewer, and putting work out there they weren't expecting to interact with that day."

KAWS, COMPANION (EXPANDED), 2020. Courtesy of KAWS and Acute Art

Most recently, KAWS debuted a new set of his wildly popular "Companion" characters, but this time in virtural reality.  The figures, rather than being limited-edition vinyl figures, comprising geolocated pixels. The project, a collaboration between the artist and the digital art platform Acute Art, featured 12 augmented-reality versions of KAWS's "Companions" floating above 11 cities across the globe, viewable only through Acute Art's app. Dubbed "EXPANDED HOLIDAY," it was a digital expansion of "KAWS:HOLIDAY," a series of installations of large-scale inflatable sculptures around the world.

His brand collaborations have made him a star

From designing Kanye West's album cover to working with cult streetwear labels A Bathing Ape and Supreme, KAWS has solidified his iconic status by undertaking a series of carefully considered brand collaborations. The result has led the artist to be aligned with a number of luxury and popular brands, captivating an even wider audience.

In 2019, Dior designer Kim Jones debut his Spring/Summer 2019 collection with a 33-ft tall pink flower sculpture of KAWS's 'BFF' character as the backdrop to the Paris Fashion Week show. On collaborating, KAWS says: "Companies are good at different things, and I want to learn about those things, how they work and how they disseminate into the world, and have my work enter the world through those same channels."


 

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