KAWS

One of my favorite "LIVING" artist, Brian Donnelly better known as KAWS. Born in Jersey City, he begin as a skater and graffiti artist as both of these activities could be done solo without a team. As Jersey City was soo close to MANHATTAN where the street scene is one of the most happening in the world, was the place where KAWS spend most of his time immereed in the culture of skating, which led him to art. When he got out of high school he was doing graf six nights a week, just tonnes of painting. He also started to unlock the glass panels encasing bus stop and phone booth ads and stealing the posters to add his own graphics to them, and surreptitiously putting them back. They were so well executed that often no one could distinguish the artist's work from the original ads.

After graduating from New York's School of Visual Arts in 1996, he travelled to Japan, where he met Hectic and Jun Takahashi of Undercover. In 1999 KAWS made his first toy with famous Japanese company Bounty Hunter, a vinyl figure of Mickey Mouse with X-ed out eyes.

In 2001, Nigo, the man behind A Bathing Ape, who is not only a huge fan of KAWS, also asked KAWS to collaborate on a clothing line which led him to open a dazzling Masamichi Katayama - designed store in tokyo in 2006 called OriginalFake.

Last but not least, lots of people must be wondering why "KAWS"? What does it mean? According to KAWS himself there is no meaning to it, he just felt that they work and function nicley with each other.