KAWS LIGHTBULBS !

KAWS LIGHTBULB FOR THE STANDARD HOTEL.

It's rare that we post up "product" related to street and urban art, and vinyl toys for that matter. However, this couldn't go without comment. No doubt it will have it's "selling out" detractors, but that would be missing the point of just how genius we think this is. A truly brilliant concept that for us, transcends most "urban" product that has gone before it.

Re-inventing the lightbulb ! No mean feat and shows just how ubiquitous the XX has become.

These could quite easily have been a one off stand alone conceptual art piece that would have slotted into numerous high end art exhibitions, the fact they're an affordable consumable object of desire in a limited edition of 1000 only add's to their relevance. Move over Haring and Koons.

PRESS RELEASE

The Standard's series of artist editions continues with Brooklyn-based artist, KAWS. This is a limited, but non-numbered edition of 1,000 sets that contain 3 bulbs each, of one bulb in each color: red, purple and green.

The 3 watt bulbs have a warm low glow. Dimensions of each globe is about 4.75" x 2.25" and they screw into any standard incandescent fixture. We love how they look on a light string using multiple sets. The bulbs are individually boxed with a KAWS and The Standard sticker and then wrapped again in an outer box that holds all three, also co-branded.

From Kaws
“I love The Standard and the different projects they have been doing” shares KAWS, “when invited to create something I wanted to redesign something basic that could be found in every hotel room in the world so we decided to make a light bulb.”

Available from Standard Hotels from today

KAWS, PASSING THROUGH

KAWS
Companion (Passing Through)
January 30 through June 5, 2011
Back by popular demand, Brooklyn-based artist Brian Donnelly, a.k.a KAWS, returns to The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in January with the largest incarnation to date of his endearing Companion character.

The sixteen-feet-tall Companion (Passing Through) is on view in the Museum’s sculpture garden through June 5, 2011.
Although KAWS enjoys great popularity worldwide for his graphic, industrial and product design, including limited toy editions and streetwear fashion, sketches, drawings, paintings, murals, and sculptures, and his work has been exhibited in many countries, his Aldrich exhibition in 2010, which spurred record attendance, was his first in a museum setting.

KAWS introduced the famous Companion in 1999. The seven and three-quarter inch limited edition toy featured the signature KAWS inflated skull and crossbones, with a skinny-legged Mickey Mouse body. KAWS chose Mickey Mouse after a search for the most recognizable and international character in the cartoon world to “take down.” Since then, the Companion has grown in scale. The towering Companion (Passing Through) presents the iconic figure sitting down with both gloved hands covering its face.

Aldrich Art Museum

GIANT KAWS COMPANION

Photo courtesy of Jediak.

Does Xmas give you a similar feeling.. ?

From Arrestedmotion

It appears KAWS has gifted the Northeast with a Giant Companion for the Holiday Season. First featured during his Hong Kong exhibit, Passing Through (covered), the 16 foot fiberglass sculpture has concluded a long journey to the US by settling down on the snowy lawn of The Aldrich Contemporary Museum where it joined the rest of the work already on display for the artist’s first museum solo exhibition.

KAWS. ART BASEL

ART BASEL. MIAMI

There's far too much going on at this weekend's Art Basel fair in Miami for us to cover anything in depth, however, we'll be posting the odd video, info and images that we think you might find of interest. First up is this short interview with Brian Donnelly a.k.a KAWS.

Episode One of  NOWNESS Video Series Asking Artists the Bigger Questions in Life at the 2010 Art Fair


A graffiti kid who started out climbing New York's billboards in the middle of the night, Brian Donnelly, a.k.a. KAWS, now garners comparisons to Takashi Murakami and Keith Haring, and his collectors include Lance Armstrong and Pharrell Williams.

The artist's often candy-colored paintings and sculptures wink at pop culture, appropriating characters such as The Simpsons, The Smurfs, the Michelin Man and SpongeBob into a fantastical, offbeat world. Original Fake, the company founded by KAWS in the 90s and based out of Tokyo’s Aoyama district, releases his vinyl toys and clothing line, securing an avid fan base in Asia; recently a 16-foot sculpture featuring a pirate skull on the body of Mickey Mouse was erected in Hong Kong's Harbour City.

The new career-spanning monograph KAWS—which he will be signing in the OHWOW bookstore at Miami's Standard Hotel on Friday December 3—brings the elements of his one-man empire together: "Seeing the book has given me perspective on everything I've done until now," he says. "I can now mentally move on to the next thing.”

Directors Jauretsi and Crystal Moselle caught up with the 35-year-old in his Brooklyn studio as he was shipping paintings to Miami's Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin for this year’s Art Basel Miami 2010. His current shows at Galerie Perrotin, Paris, and the Aldrich Museum in Connecticut, run through December 23 and January 2, 2011, respectively.

KAWS AUCTION

Classic Kaws piece up for auction, this is one we wouldn't mind having at Nuart Towers.

KAWS
Untitled, 2000
Acrylic and screenprint on canvas. 86.7 x 68.6 cm. (34 1/8 x 27 in). Signed and dated ‘KAWS 2000′ on the reverse.

ESTIMATE £12,000-18,000

Phillips de Pury day Sale