No, you're just a toy nerd

KAWS needs to do R2D2...because of the irony. Give ole R2 two big honking xed out eyes and that would be ironic as hell since he doesn't have any. Thats the sort I'd buy.

I think that is the biggest problem with the KAWS pieces that "fail" in my opinion.
Its not that its "lazy" per se etc, its more that its missing some feeling and character to it.
I liked the Pinocchio because it had a really great look to it. Likewise for me the lazzarini didn't work because they lost the "character" and became obtrusive and hard for me to look at. This just looks, well like a cheap snoopy toy that happens to have x eyes and a big set of glasses.
The jack o lantern shirt really captured the character better.

I feel like there has been a shift. KAWS used to take adverts & pop icons and put them through his proccessor and they would come out thoughtfully reimagined with the recognizable KAWS themes. It seems to me that he has taken his playing with labeling and branding in consumer society to the literal level. All he needs to do is apply his 'label' (XX) and it becomes KAWS and people buy it up like a pair of designer jeans.

I'm sure a lot of that has to do with all of the new releases being officially licensed.

He didn't worry about licensing back when he was tagging those Calvin Klein ads.

And someone will say "But as a business, he can't do that anymore".
And I say "Exactly".

No, he could do that, for paintings and tagging etc, but mass marketing a toy, he can't.
If you want the toys, he has to play the game.
I'd prefer to see more original stuff coming out but, I'm happy with alot of the things I have.

Looks like Medicom is also coming out with some Snoopy toys too.

Medicom has released a lot of Peanuts stuff. Kaws was allowed to modify and Medicom is allowed to distribute.

...and the world still revolves on its axis

Yeah, just thought it was a little weird to come out with this so close to the Kaws' piece.

Medicom is smart that way. with Kaws Pinocchio they released their Pinocchio Jiminy Cricket 2 pack at around the same time.

just found it online for retail.
didnt expect its that hard to stay away.
its been growing on me when seeing latest fotos.

more stuff, looking good:









...what is he???

dont think a separation between his works in vinyl and classic "work in the art world" makes sense.
obviously kaws is playing with material [and size],
but art hardly depends on the medium.

koons isnt a steel worker either.

and its been vinyl figures that made him famous.

I could be talking out of my ass, if so, my apologies, but I believe vinyl figures made him famous in the world of collectible art toys. His paintings are what is making a name for him in the world of "high art," not his toys. I'm sure his fame in the high art world is much more valuable to him than that of the vinyl toy scene. However, it is artists like KAWS who can help bring the world of vinyl toys to be accepted as a higher form of art by the overall community.

Try convincing anyone who's ever purchased a KAWS original that his original work (paintings, posters, etc.) is right in line with a toy that's been manufactured for "the masses," sculpted by some anonymous sculptor. That's like saying there's no separation between a panting in a museum and an interpretation of the piece in a different medium made for the masses sold at the gift shop.

Koons isn't a solid comparison, as I don't think Koons is either a painter nor a sculptor, or can be truly held responsible for any of his own work (other than the idea itself).

As I see it from the perspective of an SF Bay Area guy who is often plugged into the local vanguard art scene, there's a bit of a dichotomy that isn't really going away. People in the art game have all heard of KAWS but his "fine art" isn't generally collected by people who regularly collect contemporary art. There is definitely some degree of respect and appreciation for the vinyl figures, but they're viewed as being part of a different scene, one that costs less to participate in.

I don't mean to shoot down your perspective because it's intelligent and you're not talking out of your ass at all, but honestly, despite some crossover and despite the de Pury auctions and over a decade of talk about how art toys are art, the respective "worlds" are still basically separate and seem likely to stay that way.

As one prominent local collector put it to me, even small runs of vinyl toys and associated prints and paintings are seen as being closer to "mass produced" as opposed to "limited editions" in the conventional sense. That might sound snobby, but it is indeed the prevailing attitude on the matter.

What ever, if you pay 350$ for a piece of toy, it is an art toy. A designed art toy! Try too look at this "Joe Kaws" sculp, and tell me that it is great art!
Koons did it all in the 80' and 90', even before there was a Kaws! But Koons still does it, in his own way! Not being hired by companies to put (XX) on it to create a hype. Koons is original that way. But also way to expencive for me to own.
The disected Cimpanions by Kaws is in my opinion genious though!
Joe Kaws is to casual and boring for me, Somehow it seems meningless?

"So instead of making this monumental 10-foot thing at the time, I made a thousand 8-inch things. But it was with the same sort of attention given and the same quality control. The sculptures I’m trying to make now, I want them to feel and look like the toys that I was making."




koons = pornstar

I don't feel like fighting the whole this is good/that isn't, or this is art/that isn't, but the price of a toy doesn't make it art. I know tons of people who collect toys, be it vintage etc, that wouldn't call them art, but have spent more than this.

True enough! Just tried too be an art critic, however I started too disagree with myself, afterall. well, you can always get smarter, I can anyway!

my take on this is KAWS could've done way better than Joe Kaws. the OGs and Dissecteds were the best by far. stopped following since Pinocchio and Tweety. the BxHs were good. but Snoopy ...? yeah it's the Peanuts' anniversary but ...
yeah i can agree that these are art pieces but just not the KAWS i've been familiar with from a decade back.

well, here's to KAWS to future pieces with heat and mad props to KAWS for being a legend in his span of career! still support him on other ways!