KAWS engages audiences beyond the museums and galleries in which he regularly exhibits. His prolific body of work straddles the worlds of art & design through paintings, murals, graphic & product design, and large-scale sculptures. Over the last two decades, KAWS has built a successful career with work that consistently shows his artistic agility, underlying wit, irreverence, and affection for our times. His refined graphic language revitalizes figuration with big, bold gestures and playful intricacies. KAWS often appropriates or draws inspiration from pop culture animations, helping to form his unique artistic vocabulary. Featured in his larger-than-life sculptures and hard-edge paintings, KAWS’ cast of hybrid cartoon characters is a strong example of his explorations of humanity. As seen in his collaborations with global brands, KAWS’ imagery possesses sophisticated humor, revealing thoughtful interactions with these consumer products. With their broad appeal, KAWS’ artworks are highly sought-after by collectors inside and outside the art world, establishing him as a uniquely prominent artist and influence in today’s culture.

KAWS was born in 1974 in Jersey City, NJ, and lives in Brooklyn, NY.

He has held solo exhibitions at Skarstedt in New York City, NY (2023); The Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, Canada (2023); Serpentine Gallery in London, UK (2022); Mori Arts Center Gallery in Tokyo, Japan (2021); The Brooklyn Museum in New York City, NY (2021); The National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia (2019); Fire Station, Qatar Museums in Doha, Qatar (2019); Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit in Detroit, MI(2019); the Contemporary Art Museum of St. Louis in St. Louis, MO (2017); and elsewhere.

He has participated in group shows such as “Wild Style” at Jeffrey Deitch in New York City, NY (2023); “Tondo” at Anton Kern Gallery in New York City, NY (2023); “Faces & Figures” at Skarstedt in New York, London, & Paris (2023); “City As Studio” at K11 Musea in Hong Kong, China (2023); “Pop Masters – Art from the Mugrabi Collection” at Home of the Arts in Surfers Paradise, Australia (2023); “Un Panorama de este Mundo” at Fundación Proa in Buenos Aires, Argentina (2022); “Artists Inspired by Music: Interscope Reimagined” at Los Angeles County Museum of Art in Los Angeles, CA (2022); “ArtZuid Sculpture Biennale” in Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2021); and others.

He was an American Folk Art Museum 60th Anniversary Gala Honoree (2022), a Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Ball Honoree (2022), a Brooklyn Museum Artists Ball Honoree (2021), a New York Academy of Art Tribeca Ball Honoree (2019), a Hirshhorn Museum New York Gala Honoree (2018), and an amfAR Hong Kong Gala Honoree (2018). He was also given an Honorary Doctorate Degree from the New York Academy of Art (2019) and was named to The Bloomberg 50 (2019).