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Tribune News Network
Doha
HE Sheikh Thani bin Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani opened ‘KAWS: He Eats Alone’ exhibition at the Doha Fire Station on Thursday.
The opening of the first museum show in the Middle East dedicated to US artist Brian Donnelly, known professionally as KAWS, was attended by several VIPs including Board Member of Qatar Museums (QM) Dr Mohamed Abdul Raheem Kafoud, Acting CEO of QM Ahmed al Namla and several others.
Curated by acclaimed art historian Germano Celant, the exhibition is open from October 25, 2019 to January 25, 2020. The solo survey explores the artist’s career and vast oeuvre, featuring paintings, graphic design, small-scale objects and large-scale sculptures made over the past twenty years.
The exhibition features 40 artworks. The works represent the artist’s studio practice that are on view at the Garage Gallery in the Fire Station and a monumental 40-metre long inflatable sculpture titled ‘Holiday’ (2019) to be installed at the Dhow Harbour.
Some 90 examples of products and commercial collaborations designed by KAWS, including sneakers, skateboards and toys, are presented in the archive located on the second floor of the Fire Station’s Café building.
“We are pleased to present this important exhibition of the work of internationally-renowned artist KAWS, along with the giant public installation in Dhow Harbour,” said Sheikha Reem al Thani, director of exhibitions at QM. “If the public reception of the recent installation of KAWS’s ‘Small Lie’ (2018) at Doha’s Hamad International Airport, is any indication, the artist’s larger than life sculptures, which evoke questions of humanity and hope, will unquestionably resonate with the people of Qatar.”
Talking about the artist’s works, curator Celant said, “The figures by KAWS are inflected in the world through a system of global communication and distribution. They are delicate, original forms that graft into every earthly context. They bear witness to the cosmopolitan spirit of an art ‘without place’ that is able to convey an imaginary universe, always aware of having to negotiate its presence with the already existing market of signs.”
KAWS’ imagery has long possessed a sophisticated, dark humour, revealing the interplay between art and consumerism, referencing both art history and pop culture. Donnelly began his career in street art in the 1990s, becoming synonymous with the name KAWS, a tag that became a staple in his advertisements and ‘sub-vertisments’ (modifications of commercial works).
Later, the artist explored industrial production with KAWS Companion, Chum and Accomplice. These large- and small-scale objects translate the noisy exuberance of graffiti into 3-D cartoon characters that recall familiar images and characters in pop culture. Blindly, with Xs for eyes, these characters approach their audience with recognisable yet manipulated shapes, mutating in attempt to more easily interact with society.
At the large-scale exhibition, the graphic installations envelop the Fire Station complex, inviting visitors into the singular world of KAWS. The museum’s Garage Gallery is transformed into labyrinthine of gallery spaces designed by New York-based studio 2x4. A composition of fragmented art walls and sculpture platforms serve to both anchor and frame the works throughout the exhibition, including the titular piece ‘He Eats Alone’ (2014), an early painting M2 (2000), signature character sculpture ‘Chum’ (2008, black) and ‘Accomplice’ (2010).
Across the courtyard, the Archive features a wide array of smaller KAWS objects in a series of intimately scaled, display vitrines. The KAWS editions from 1999 to 2019 on view range from fashion and design objects to plush toys and skateboards produced in collaboration with diverse companies and brands.
In the Fire Station’s courtyard space, the work ‘Companion’ (2010), a 5-metre-tall matte black figure, seated with his hands covering his eyes, will be installed. The Companion figure, created by KAWS in 1999 and represented one of the artist’s first characters in 3D, is likewise the subject of the large-scale inflatable, titled ‘Holiday’ (2019), to be installed at Doha’s Dhow Harbour. The 40-metre figure, in this iteration in a reclined position, was installed earlier this year on a campground at the base of Mount Fuji in Japan.
Doha
HE Sheikh Thani bin Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani opened ‘KAWS: He Eats Alone’ exhibition at the Doha Fire Station on Thursday.
The opening of the first museum show in the Middle East dedicated to US artist Brian Donnelly, known professionally as KAWS, was attended by several VIPs including Board Member of Qatar Museums (QM) Dr Mohamed Abdul Raheem Kafoud, Acting CEO of QM Ahmed al Namla and several others.
Curated by acclaimed art historian Germano Celant, the exhibition is open from October 25, 2019 to January 25, 2020. The solo survey explores the artist’s career and vast oeuvre, featuring paintings, graphic design, small-scale objects and large-scale sculptures made over the past twenty years.
The exhibition features 40 artworks. The works represent the artist’s studio practice that are on view at the Garage Gallery in the Fire Station and a monumental 40-metre long inflatable sculpture titled ‘Holiday’ (2019) to be installed at the Dhow Harbour.
Some 90 examples of products and commercial collaborations designed by KAWS, including sneakers, skateboards and toys, are presented in the archive located on the second floor of the Fire Station’s Café building.
“We are pleased to present this important exhibition of the work of internationally-renowned artist KAWS, along with the giant public installation in Dhow Harbour,” said Sheikha Reem al Thani, director of exhibitions at QM. “If the public reception of the recent installation of KAWS’s ‘Small Lie’ (2018) at Doha’s Hamad International Airport, is any indication, the artist’s larger than life sculptures, which evoke questions of humanity and hope, will unquestionably resonate with the people of Qatar.”
Talking about the artist’s works, curator Celant said, “The figures by KAWS are inflected in the world through a system of global communication and distribution. They are delicate, original forms that graft into every earthly context. They bear witness to the cosmopolitan spirit of an art ‘without place’ that is able to convey an imaginary universe, always aware of having to negotiate its presence with the already existing market of signs.”
KAWS’ imagery has long possessed a sophisticated, dark humour, revealing the interplay between art and consumerism, referencing both art history and pop culture. Donnelly began his career in street art in the 1990s, becoming synonymous with the name KAWS, a tag that became a staple in his advertisements and ‘sub-vertisments’ (modifications of commercial works).
Later, the artist explored industrial production with KAWS Companion, Chum and Accomplice. These large- and small-scale objects translate the noisy exuberance of graffiti into 3-D cartoon characters that recall familiar images and characters in pop culture. Blindly, with Xs for eyes, these characters approach their audience with recognisable yet manipulated shapes, mutating in attempt to more easily interact with society.
At the large-scale exhibition, the graphic installations envelop the Fire Station complex, inviting visitors into the singular world of KAWS. The museum’s Garage Gallery is transformed into labyrinthine of gallery spaces designed by New York-based studio 2x4. A composition of fragmented art walls and sculpture platforms serve to both anchor and frame the works throughout the exhibition, including the titular piece ‘He Eats Alone’ (2014), an early painting M2 (2000), signature character sculpture ‘Chum’ (2008, black) and ‘Accomplice’ (2010).
Across the courtyard, the Archive features a wide array of smaller KAWS objects in a series of intimately scaled, display vitrines. The KAWS editions from 1999 to 2019 on view range from fashion and design objects to plush toys and skateboards produced in collaboration with diverse companies and brands.
In the Fire Station’s courtyard space, the work ‘Companion’ (2010), a 5-metre-tall matte black figure, seated with his hands covering his eyes, will be installed. The Companion figure, created by KAWS in 1999 and represented one of the artist’s first characters in 3D, is likewise the subject of the large-scale inflatable, titled ‘Holiday’ (2019), to be installed at Doha’s Dhow Harbour. The 40-metre figure, in this iteration in a reclined position, was installed earlier this year on a campground at the base of Mount Fuji in Japan.
