*Monumental inflatable sculpture titled Holiday to be installed at Dhow Harbour
HE Sheikh Thani bin Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani on Thursday opened the Kaws: He Eats Alone exhibition at the Doha Fire Station.
The opening of the first museum show in the Middle East dedicated to American artist and designer Brian Donnelly, known professionally as Kaws, was attended by several VIPs, including Dr Mohamed Abdul Raheem Kafoud, member of the Qatar Museums (QM) board, Ahmed al-Namla, acting CEO of QM, and many others.
The 'one-of-its-kind' exhibition is showcasing 40 artworks representing the artist's studio practice and a 40m-long inflatable sculpture, titled Holiday (2019), is to be installed at the Dhow Harbour.
“We are pleased to present this important exhibition of the work of internationally-renowned artist Kaws, along with the giant public installation in Dhow Harbour," QM’s Exhibitions director Sheikha Reem al-Thani said in a press statement.
“If the public reception of the recent installation of Kaws’ Small Lie (2018) at Doha's Hamad International Airport, is any indication, the artist's larger than life sculptures, which evoke questions of humanity and hope, will unquestionably resonate with the people of Qatar,” Sheikha Reem noted.
This solo survey, which will run from today until January 25, 2020, is curated by acclaimed art historian Germano Celant.
It explores the artist’s career and vast oeuvre, featuring paintings, graphic design, small-scale objects and large-scale sculptures made over the past 20 years.
Some 90 examples of products and commercial collaborations designed by Kaws such as sneakers, skateboards and toys are displayed in the Archive located on the second floor of Doha Fire Station's Café building.
“I am grateful for this opportunity to show a large group of my works in Doha for the first time, and in such a complex and interesting space at the Fire Station," Kaws said.
The curator said the figures by Kaws are inflected in the world through a system of global communication and distribution.
“They are delicate, original forms that graft into every earthly context. They bear witness to the cosmopolitan spirit of an art "without place" that is able to convey an imaginary universe, always aware of having to negotiate its presence with the already existing market of signs,” Celant said.
“It is an acknowledgment of the iconic materials in circulation that have led us to a nomadic, and now virtual, culture.
“Kaws crystalises a few of these, uprooting them from their mass profitability and making them alternative through their individuality, in keeping with a human perspective connected to the feelings of suffering and pain, boredom and sadness, which enable us to resist mass flattening and annihilation.:
Kaws' imagery has long possessed a sophisticated, dark humour, revealing the interplay between art and consumerism, referencing both art history and pop culture.
The artist – Donnelly – began his career in street art in the 1990s, becoming synonymous with the name Kaws a tag that became a staple in his advertisements and 'sub-vertisments' (modifications of commercial works).
Later, the artist explored industrial production with Kaws Companion, Chum, and Accomplice — large- and small-scale objects translate the noisy exuberance of graffiti into 3-D cartoon characters that recall familiar images and characters in pop culture.
Garage Gallery becomes labyrinth of art spaces
The museum's Garage Gallery has been transformed into labyrinth of gallery spaces designed by New York-based studio 2x4.
A composition of fragmented art walls and sculpture platforms serve to both anchor and frame the works throughout the exhibition, including the titular piece He Eats Alone (2014), an early painting M2 (2000), signature character sculpture Chum (2008, black) and Accomplice (2010).
Across the courtyard, the Archive features a wide array of smaller Kaws objects in a series of intimately scaled, display vitrines.
The Kaaws editions from 1999 to 2019 on view range from fashion and design objects to plush toys and skateboards produced in collaboration with diverse companies and brands.
In the Fire Station's courtyard space, the work Companion (Passing Through) (2010), a 5m-tall matte black figure, seated with his hands covering his eyes, will be installed.
The Companion figure, which was created by Kaws in 1999 and represented one of the artist's first characters in 3D, is likewise the subject of the large-scale inflatable, Holiday (2019).
The 40m long figure, in this iteration in a reclined position, was installed earlier this year on a campground at the base of Mount Fuji in Japan.
Admission to the exhibition is QAR50 for adults; QAR25 for Qataris, residents and students.
