I'm assuming the color on that photo is just really off and it's the Pink Chum from the Beautiful Losers show.
seems like its a new one from current exhibition in nyc. rest of the works here: http://www.geringlopez.com/artists/kaws/
I didn't see what you're referring to on that webpage, but it's pretty cool. It's nothing new, but I'd still love to have a giant Chum. The Chums that I have are probably some of my favorite pieces.
Mega-Chum = Awesome Kaws Busts = Lame Ego Trip I thought it was interesting, although a bit egotistical, when he put the little heads in the Kaws Kun...but this really takes it to a whole new level. Those busts need some defacing, in my opinion, but at 25K a head, you'd have to have really deep pockets to burn some x's into his eyes and graff up his forehead... I'm not a Kaws-hater---I admire the fact that he can make a shit-ton of money doing the same routine over and over---but I still don't get how his stuff brings down the "fine art" price tags that it does...guess I should be very happy about that, as it is saving me a lot of cash!
And about 24 years after Jeff Koons did the same thing, much better, and in a context that actually had significant aesthetic content. Long story short, KAWS is shallow. He has the licks to execute well, but he's not a very good artist overall. There is so much exciting, radical, awesome work going on in contemporary art in the United States and the world these days. KAWS is commerce without much substance at all. All his ideas have been expressed better by others, decades ago.
I thought the severed head in the Skull-Kun was possibly him being a little humble, i.e. "BxH kills KAWS"... I agree with you, the mega chum is awesome but the busts are troubling...if he had defaced the busts himself it would have been much more palatable.
To each their own. I'm well aware of his popularity as well as the general snickering about that. I just wish more people would be more motivated to find out what else is going on out there. The de facto KAWS-worship among many in the toy collecting scene is kinda tired at this point. Otherwise, I really do mean "to each their own." If KAWS is your thing, by all means, enjoy. There are some good shows by some true originals coming up in the SF Bay Area soon. I'll post in a separate thread about that when the time comes.
