Dissected Companion 1000% (Grey), 2010

KAWS is a multi-faceted New York-based artist and designer, ranked as a highly influential figure in the contemporary urban art scene. Starting his career in the ‘90s as a freelance animator by day and a graffiti artist by night, he is regarded as one of the most successful cross-over artists of our generation. KAWS has achieved street and gallery accreditation with his distinctive and sophisticated graphics. He is widely recognized for the repeated use of a hybrid cast of well-known cartoons, mascots, and human characters, resulting in the creation of a unique and universal visual language. Collaborating with global brands, KAWS challenges our conception of ‘high’ and ‘low’ art. His paintings, although abstract at first sight, are a deconstruction of appropriated pop culture characters into layers of abstract shapes.

While this looks like a toy that you might have seen in a black and white movie, this piece is actually an important representation of KAWS’s work – the marriage of toys, cartoons, and art. One side shows what the outside world sees when they look at Mickey Mouse – the other shows what happens underneath his skin that runs him. An interesting element of this piece is that on the exterior, the viewer only sees the KAWS ‘x’ for an eye, but the interior shows a more anatomically-correct eyeball.