Sri Krishna
The KAWS: HE EATS ALONE exhibition is currently open at the Doha Fire Station’s Garage Gallery. This beautiful one-of-its-kind exhibition was started by His Excellency Sheik Thani bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, and is the first museum by Brian Donnelly, called professionally as KAWS, in the Middle East.
KAWS is a New York-based famous artist whose iconic signature “XX” finds its foundations in when KAWS was simply starting as a road artist during the 1990s. It started with advertisements and adjusting them with his artistic talent using the “XX” sign in place of the eyes, and proceeded to make the famous COMPANION character with gloved hands and two “XXs”for eyes. KAWS’ artistic efforts have since long possessed a sophisticated, dark humor, revealing the interaction among art and consumerism, referring to both art history and pop culture too. Regularly, make a mixture of human and animation characters like Mickey Mouse, which was one of KAWS most popular figures and shows the famous disney character with his hands covering his eyes.
Curated by acclaimed art specialist Germano Celant, this performance overview displayed as an exhibition in Doha investigates the artist’s profession and huge oeuvre, including artistic paintings, graphic design, some-scope articles, and huge-scope forms that he has made over the past 20 years.
In spite, many people don’t have a clue about the artist himself, each and every person who goes through Qatar, has seen his recent establishment called KAWS’s SMALL LIE (2018) at Doha’s Hamad International Airport. KAWS’ larger models, which inquire about humanity and expectation, will certainly resonate with the people of Qatar, when they come to see his work at the Doha Fire Station.
The Exhibition itself
The exhibition, which runs until 25 January 2020 features 40 artworks by KAWS and represents to the artist’s studio practice on visible at the Garage Gallery along with a great (40-meter long) inflatable status named HOLIDAY (2019) which has been introduced in the Dhow Harbor on the Corniche in Doha. Somewhere in the range of 90 examples of things and commercial efforts designed by KAWS which includes shoes, skateboards, and toys are also being introduced in the Archive, which is situated on the second floor of the Doha Fire Station’s Café building.
KAWS has investigated industrial production with KAWS COMPANION, CHUM, and ACCOMPLICE. These large and little scope objects translate the noisy richness of spray painting into 3D animation characters that review familiar images and characters in pop society. Thus, the artist at the same time represents the vacuity of media and as a consumable thing. The disappointment of art—and failure to change the world. Blindly, with Xs for eyes, these characters approach their audience with identifiable yet controlled shapes, transforming in an attempt to all the more easily associate with society. The formidable power of these hybrid figures, when given a role as larger-than-life models, addresses a contemporary period in which pictures are regularly exchanged for persona—while their emotional stances are inspired with humanity.
The KAWS in Doha exhibition introduces itself as a large scope, and artists produced graphic establishments that wrap the Fire Station and invite guests into the particular universe of KAWS. The museum’s Garage Gallery has been changed into a labyrinthine gallery space designed by New York-based studio 2×4. An organization of divided art walls and figure stages serve to both anchor and frame the works all through the exhibition, including the nominal piece HE EATS ALONE (2014), an early painting M2 (2000), signature character form CHUM (2008, dark) and ACCOMPLICE (2010).
Over the courtyard, the Archive includes a wide exhibit of small KAWS objects in a series of personally scaled, display vitrines. The KAWS versions from 1999 to 2019 on view range from style and configuration things to plush toys and skateboards produced in a collaboration with various companies and brands.
In the Fire Station’s courtyard space, the work COMPANION (PASSING THROUGH) (2010), a 5-meter-tall matte dark figure, situated with his hands covering his eyes, will be introduced. The COMPANION figure, which was made by KAWS in 1999 and represented to one of the artist’s first characters in 3D, is similarly the subject of the large scope inflatable, named HOLIDAY (2019), to be introduced in Doha’s Dhow Harbor. The 40-meter-long figure in this emphasis in a leaned back position, was introduced recently this year on a campground at the base of Mount Fuji in Japan.
The artist himself
KAWS isn’t only an artist and painter, he is also a creator and a devoted authority. Many feel he is one of the most special artists at the present time. His art style is contemporary, but then he can bring the young and the old together regardless of where they are through his interesting art that has a sophisticated, dark humor, revealing the interplay among art and consumerism, referring to both art history and pop culture.
KAWS, or Brian Donnelly, was born in New Jersey in 1974. After he was awarded a Bachelor of Fine Arts in representation from the New York School of Visual Arts in 1996, he got a job with Disney where he painted movie backgrounds and made significant contributions to movies like Doug, Daria and 101 Dalmations.
After he became a street artist and started to reinvent print advertising campaigns, he started to get noticed and with time, he became continuously popular. From that point then, he has planned and produced vinyl toys, designed clothes and toys for popular brands like Vans, Nike, A Bathing Ape, Original Fake, Comme des Garcons and Kung Faux. He has recently worked with UniQlo and was highlighted in the Dior Homme spring/summer 2019 runway show last June.
He is an increasingly famous contemporary artist that has made sculptures and public art establishments like the HOLIDAY which can be seen at the Dhow Harbor on the Doha Corniche till 17 November 2019 . The epic 40 meter long figure represents the art’s attempt to remind passersby to relax in an increasingly hectic world. Much like the remainder of KAWS’ art, the establishment uses mind and irreverence to give a lively commentary on our humanity.
To know more information about the KAWS HOLIDAY public art establishment on display (till 20 November, 2019) at the Corniche Dhow Harbor,
Admission to the exhibition
Admission to KAWS: HE EATS ALONE is QAR 50 only for adults; QAR 25 for Qataris, Residents of Qatar and students. And admission is free for childrens under 16, Culture Pass Plus and Culture Pass Family Members, and also guests with handicaps. For full terms and conditions, visit: https://www.qm.org.qa/en/ticketing-terms-conditions
