KAWS’ little blue men…

“Everything Else,” a group show curated by CHRIS CHURCHILL at FRANKLIN PARRASCH GALLERY in NYC features the work of 16 artists but to be honest, it’s notable primarily for the inclusion of just one: the ever-elusive gallery ghost known as KAWS. Sidestepping the formal art world almost entirely in recent years, choosing instead to sell paintings—many of which were top flight large-scale works—directly to private collectors, the streetwear & collectibles phenomenon known to his parents as Brian Donnelley put the brakes on a formal art career primed for takeoff following his debut installation at Manhattan’s New Museum in 2000. Choosing instead to publicly focus on a burgeoning merchandise empire in recent years, his inclusion in this show (one submission includes his 4′ Companion figure but it’s always been more of a sculpture than a “toy” anyway) is particularly relevant as it marks an official return to the gallery world with several large shows currently in the works. Also included in this show, which seeks to examine why “things” get made and questions “what are the demands of a culture that prompts such production and how do the products of everyday life touch on the spiritual and the immaterial?,” are original artworks by Jason Adkins, Bryan Bowie, Anthony Campuzano, Jason Frazier, Misaki Kawai, Michael J. Kelly, Wook Kim, Wes Lang, Sandra Eula Lee, Rebecca Potts, George Stoll, Keith Tallett, Xavier Veilhan, Jocko Weyland, and Jesse Wine. HAVE A LOOK:

Misaki Kawai

Sandra Eula Lee

Wes Lang

Wes Lang

Michael J. Kelly

(detail)

(detail)

(detail)

Anthony Campuzano

George Stoll

Keith Tallett

Sandra Eula Lee

Wook Kim

Installation view…

Jason Adkins

Jocko Weyland

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 25th, 2008 at 2:28 am and is filed under KAWS, NYC, News, Openings, art. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.