KAWS' Tension #3 (2019) is a dynamic serigraph print that embodies the artist’s distinctive fusion of street art aesthetics and pop culture references. The composition is filled with bold, overlapping shapes and vibrant colors, including bright reds, blues, purples, and greens, creating a sense of movement and energy. The abstract forms are layered to suggest tension and depth, while maintaining a flat, graphic quality typical of KAWS’ work. The red, flowing shapes draped over the composition introduce a sense of organic disruption amidst the geometric forms. This piece reflects KAWS' ability to merge abstract forms with a playful yet sophisticated visual language that appeals to both contemporary art and popular culture audiences.
KAWS (USA, 1974), born Brian Donnelly, is a contemporary artist and designer celebrated for his cartoon-inspired sculptures, paintings, and collectible toys. Merging street art and pop culture, his iconic 'Companion' figures and bold graphics have reached global audiences, bridging the worlds of fine art, fashion, and commercial design.
Serigraph Serigraph is a printmaking process that uses silk screen techniques to create an image. The image is digitally separated into individual colors, each of which is assigned to a separate silk screen. These screens are then used to apply each color by hand, layer by layer, to replicate the original artwork, often based on an oil painting.
KAWS' Tension #3 (2019) is a dynamic serigraph print that embodies the artist’s distinctive fusion of street art aesthetics and pop culture references. The composition is filled with bold, overlapping shapes and vibrant colors, including bright reds, blues, purples, and greens, creating a sense of movement and energy. The abstract forms are layered to suggest tension and depth, while maintaining a flat, graphic quality typical of KAWS’ work. The red, flowing shapes draped over the composition introduce a sense of organic disruption amidst the geometric forms. This piece reflects KAWS' ability to merge abstract forms with a playful yet sophisticated visual language that appeals to both contemporary art and popular culture audiences.
KAWS (USA, 1974), born Brian Donnelly, is a contemporary artist and designer celebrated for his cartoon-inspired sculptures, paintings, and collectible toys. Merging street art and pop culture, his iconic 'Companion' figures and bold graphics have reached global audiences, bridging the worlds of fine art, fashion, and commercial design.
Born Brian Donnelly but creating under a pseudonym, Kaws is an artist renowned for his acrylic paintings and sculptures that often employ repeated and distinctive graphics while reworking highly recognisable pop culture icons – Companion is one of his most notable sculptures, a large-scale, clown-like and darker take on the universally-recognised Mickey Mouse. Kaws’ early foray into art was through the form of street-graffiti; his trademark ‘x’ symbol, often applied over the hands, eyes and mouths of his characters, sprung from this phase in which Kaws would often replace public advertisements with his own artwork, a technique known as subvertising. Kaws uses a number of different materials throughout his creative processes including wood, aluminium, fiberglass and a steel pontoon inflatable raft; he has also collaborated with numerous companies and artists including Santastic! and John Mayer. (Artist website)
Hard Edge art is a style of abstract painting that became popular in the 1960s. It features areas of color separated by crisp, sharp edges that are painted with geometric precision. The term hard-edge painting was coined by art critic Jules Langsner to describe this approach, which contrasts with the softer, more fluid forms of other abstract styles.