KAWS, FAMILY (2021) Bronze, paint, (219.1 x 207 x 95.6 cm) © KAWS

KAWS, FAMILY (2021) Bronze, paint, (219.1 x 207 x 95.6 cm) © KAWS

KAWS: FAMILY

September 27, 2023 - August 9, 2024

Located on Level 2 in Gallery 224.

Admission is always FREE for AGO Members, AGO Annual Pass Holders & Indigenous Peoples. Learn more.

EXHIBITION OVERVIEW

Making his Canadian museum debut, Brooklyn-based artist Brian Donnelly (1974), better known as KAWS, bridges the worlds of art, popular culture and commerce with sophisticated humour and insightful appropriation. Renowned for his larger-than-life sculptures of cartoon-inspired characters and exuberant hard-edge paintings that playfully emphasize line and colour, much like 1960s Pop artists, he blurs the boundaries between populist and elite art, bringing mass media imagery into traditional art spaces.  Straddling the world of art and design, KAWS has forged a large international following both inside and outside the art world.  

In this original AGO exhibition, visitors will see first hand the artist's meticulous methods, creative process and range, through more than 75 artworks including wall murals, sketches, paintings, sculptures, his altered phone booth advertisements and product collaborations. Centered in Signy Eaton Gallery, with interventions throughout the museum, the centrepiece of the exhibition, is a larger-than-life painted bronze sculpture FAMILY (2021), featuring four of KAWS’ recurring figures of varying sizes posed as a nuclear family.  

Organized by the AGO, the exhibition is curated by Julian Cox, AGO Deputy Director and Chief Curator.

KAWS: FAMILY - promos

Shop the Exhibition

Visit our shop for items inspired by KAWS: FAMILY – including AGO exclusive products created in collaboration with the artist.

Shop Now

BlindSquare Event App

blindsquare


BlindSquare is a free GPS app developed for the blind, deafblind, and partially sighted. The GPS technology will alert your device to each described audio stop, provide text-to-speech for in-gallery room panels and wayfinding directives in this exhibition. You can download the app from the Apple App Store or by using a QR code onsite. iOS compatible only.


AR SCULPTURES IN GALLERIA ITALIA

A highlight of KAWS: FAMILY is two augmented reality (AR) artworks, WATCHING and COMPANION (EXPANDED), located in Galleria Italia. To activate and share images of these artworks, visitors need to download to their personal mobile device the free Acute Art app. It is recommended that you download the app before visiting the museum.

To activate the sculptures:

  • Download the free Acute Art app onto your mobile device (iPhone 8 or newer | Android OS 7.0 or newer)
  • Upon entering Galleria Italia (Gallery 223), look for the two white platforms on the floor. 
  • Open the app on your mobile device. Allow the app access to your location and camera.
  • Select AGO from the app home page.
  • Each white platform corresponds to a different sculpture.  Select your sculpture.
  • Point your camera at the white platform on floor, standing approximately 1 metre (3 feet) away to see the AR sculpture appear.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

KAWS was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, in 1974. Over the last two decades he has built a successful career with work that consistently shows his formal agility as an artist, as well as his underlying wit, irreverence and affection for our times. His practice possesses a sophisticated humour and thoughtful interplay with consumer products and collaborations with global brands, ranging from General Mills and Nike, to Supreme and Comme de Garçons. He often draws inspiration from and appropriates from pop-culture animations to form a unique artistic vocabulary for his work across a variety of media.

KAWS has exhibited extensively throughout the United States and internationally, but never in Canada. Recent solo exhibitions of his work have been presented at institutions such as the Serpentine Gallery, London, UK; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; Brooklyn Museum, New York; Museum of Contemporary Art, Detroit; High Museum of Art, Atlanta; Fire Station, Qatar Museums, Doha; Mori Arts Center Gallery, Tokyo; and the Yuz Museum, Shanghai. He is represented by Skarstedt Gallery in New York.


ARTWORKS FROM THE EXHIBITION

KAWS. UNTITLED (KAWS), 2018. Ink on paper.

KAWS. UNTITLED (KAWS), 2018. Ink on paper, 22.9 x 22.9 cm. © KAWS. Photo: Farzad Owrang

KAWS: FAMILY - artworks slideshow
KAWS. UNTITLED (HARING), 1997. Acrylic on existing advertising poster.

KAWS. UNTITLED (HARING), 1997. Acrylic on existing advertising poster, 172.7 × 121.9 cm. © KAWS. Photo: Farzad Owrang

KAWS: FAMILY - artworks slideshow
KAWS. CHUM, 2002. Acrylic on canvas.

KAWS. CHUM, 2002. Acrylic on canvas, 172.7 × 172.7 cm. © KAWS. Photo: Farzad Owrang

KAWS: FAMILY - artworks slideshow
KAWS. UNTITLED (BAM), 2013. Acrylic on canvas.

KAWS. UNTITLED (BAM), 2013. Acrylic on canvas, 213.4 × 182.9 cm. © KAWS.

KAWS: FAMILY - artworks slideshow
KAWS. THE PORTRAIT, 2021. Acrylic on canvas.

KAWS. THE PORTRAIT, 2021. Acrylic on canvas, 55.9 × 45.7 × 2.9 cm. © KAWS. Photo: Farzad Owrang

KAWS: FAMILY - artworks slideshow
KAWS. NEW MORNING, 2012. Acrylic on canvas over.

KAWS. NEW MORNING, 2012. Acrylic on canvas over panel (in two parts), Panel: 182.9 × 114.3 × 4.4 cm. © KAWS.

KAWS: FAMILY - artworks slideshow
KAWS. GONE, 2020. Bronze, paint.

KAWS. GONE, 2020. Bronze, paint, Overall: 181 × 181.6 × 79.1 cm. © KAWS.

KAWS: FAMILY - artworks slideshow
KAWS. SPACE, 2021. Stainless steel.

KAWS. SPACE, 2021. Stainless steel, 243.8 × 88.9 × 99.1 cm, 412.8 kg. © KAWS.

KAWS: FAMILY - artworks slideshow
KAWS. LOST FUTURE, 2023. Acrylic on canvas.

KAWS. LOST FUTURE, 2023. Acrylic on canvas, 218.4 × 182.9 × 3.8 cm. © KAWS. Photo: Farzad Owrang

KAWS: FAMILY - artworks slideshow
KAWS. TIME OFF, 2023. Vinyl.

KAWS. TIME OFF, 2023. Vinyl, 18 × 28 × 15 cm. © KAWS. Photo: Brad Bridgers

KAWS: FAMILY - artworks slideshow

PAST EVENTS - USE THIS ONE

Talks
KAWS x Collector Culture
Friday May 31, 7pm

Brooklyn-based artist Brian Donnelly (1974), better known as KAWS, bridges the worlds of art, popular culture and commerce with sophisticated humour and insightful app

Special Events
KAWS: FAMILY Book Signing
Friday, March 1, 7 - 9 pm

 

Update: All the wrist bands for tonight's signing have been distributed. The event is at capacity.

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