KAWS (b. 1974)

KAWS, formally known as Brian Donnelly, is a Brooklyn based artist and designer, who began his career as a street artist in New Jersey and New York. Due to a dramatic increase in popularity in his early years, he began to paint murals in the streets of Tokyo, London, Berlin, and Paris. Since then, KAWS has worked with Disney, MTV, Nike, Vans, and many more on commercial collaborations.

Frequently reworking and subverting common culutural icons, KAWS has repurposed imagery from Star Wars, the Simpsons, Mickey Mouse, and many more in miniature to monumentally sized sculpture, in addition to prints, and paintings. His artwork is humorous and thought provoking in an aesthetic marked by bright colors and bold gestures.