All Photos By Gail

Provocatively half dissected, flayed, and rendered in a sophisticated grey-scale palette, Companion (Resting Place, 2013) monumentalizes the beloved character created by Brian Donnelly, one of the most popular artists of his generation, who goes by the pseudonym KAWS.

Implementing KAWS’s signature logos, the X replaces one of the eyes, the protruding crossbones, though bisected, signal an ear or hair, while the playfully oversized features provide comedic relief to the underlying tones of existentialism.

This work is one of the only few life-size grey sculptures completed during the final season of the artist’s brand OriginalFake. Expressing the namesake duality that encapsulates the allure of KAWS’s work, Companion (Resting Place) points to an ingenuity that emerges from previously codified figures and concerns executed in a thrilling KAWS-ified twist.

In true KAWS fashion, as the visibility of his work increased, and intrigued followers requested more information about the characters, KAWS humorously revealed the literal interior of Companion, instead of providing further details on its psychological or emotional state.

Photographed as part of the Exhibit, KAWS: What Party at The Brooklyn Museum.