“KAWS: FAMILY” traveling exhibit brings pop art, family dynamics to Crystal Bridges | Lifestyles | uatrav.com

KAWS Gone figure in pink and gray. The “KAWS: FAMILY” exhibit will be on display from March 15 to July 28 at Crystal Bridges.

The “KAWS: FAMILY” exhibit brings innovative art and relatable emotions to audiences, allowing the viewer to see themselves reflected in the artwork of original characters and pop-culture figures.

“KAWS” is currently on display at Crystal Bridges, showcasing iconic characters and sculptures by Brooklyn-based artist KAWS.

The exhibit invites the viewer to consider the concepts of family dynamics by using exaggerated expressions of human emotions through sculptures, paintings and drawings.

The exhibit’s title is taken from the sculpture “FAMILY” (2021), which brings together four of KAWS’ characters posed in the style of a family portrait, according to the Crystal Bridges website.

Thecharacters are known as Chum, BFF and Companion and the interaction between these characters is a major motif in KAWS’ art.

The characters are posed casually as if taking a candid family photo. BFF has its arm gently placed on the shoulder of a miniature Chum, giving the illusion of parent and child.

Alejo Benedetti, the Crystal Bridges art curator of the exhibit, said that “FAMILY”poses and dynamics are an important and common theme throughout the exhibit.

“This is one of the things we will continue to see as we walk through,” Benedetti said. “Not just the individual characters but also how they interact with one another, the different gestures that [KAWS] plays with, and the different scales that [KAWS] manipulates.”

Aside from sculptures, “KAWS” displays paintings, product collaborations and drawing sketching that KAWS has done over the course of his 30-year career.

The KIMPSONS is a series of artworks inspired by The Simpsons family, imagining them and other characters from the show in KAWS’ iconic art style. One painting, “Untitled (Kimpsons #3),”shows the Simpsons family drawn as KAWS’ character Companion.

The series includes package paintings, which are put behind a plastic case meant to resemble toy figurines inside a package.

KAWS himself said that he was inspired by Japanese toy collectors and wanted to create something that combined physical sculptures with paintings.

“I hand-painted every canvas,” KAWS said, “and used a toy factory to mass produce the packaging for it, as my way of bridging between a sculpture-like object and a two-dimensional painting and showing the commonalities between these two worlds.”

KAWS has collaborated with many iconic brands, including General Mills, Peanuts and the MTV Music Video Awards.

Man’s Best Friend is KAWS’ tribute to Snoopy, from the “Peanuts”comic strip created by Charles Schulz. KAWS emulates Schulz’s art style, using wavy lines to create images of Snoopy, both recognizable and unrecognizable.

KAWS said he played with black and white lines for this collection, trying to see how much he could manipulate them while still retaining the image of the iconic dog.

“I played with how much work needs to be present in order to be recognizable,” KAWS said, “and at what point does it transform into something else.”

The end of the exhibit features an interactive experience where audiences can draw a friend for a lonely rendition of BFF. This part of the exhibit was put together by the National Gallery of Victoria in Australia.

The “KAWS: FAMILY” exhibit will be on display from March 15 to July 28 at Crystal Bridges. Tickets can be purchased online or in person at the museum.

Log In

Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,racist or sexually-oriented language.PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.Don't Threaten. Threats of harming anotherperson will not be tolerated.Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyoneor anything.Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ismthat is degrading to another person.Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link oneach comment to let us know of abusive posts.Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitnessaccounts, the history behind an article.

Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos.

Sorry, there are no recent results for popular commented articles.