Tag: KAWS

KAWS opening night action…

KAWS’ solo show at Honor Fraser, “The Long Way Home”, went off in fine form last night. Fans were not let down as KAWS unleashed an arsenal of new works, spanning several different styles. One of the highlights was a full room full of ‘Kurf’ styled works, as well as a 90″ tall day-glo green Chum, six 20″ tall bronze chums (each a diff. color) and three of his painted bronze head casts (including one that had ‘fallen’ on the floor).
Opening night crush… place was packed from the onset with a line over three blocks long (a good 200 people deep) the whole night long… sadly, sure many were shut out. But don’t worry, the show is up through April 4th. I’ll be headed out to take it in one more time for sure, as the place was packed to the gills all evening.




KAWS’ own head sculpted in bronze.

Ahhh, to have gotten one of these packaged gems of ‘Kurf’ goodness…

‘Kurf’ package painting close up… all had sold out prior to show ($10K each)

More ‘Kurf’ goodness…
Check out a preview of the show that the LA Times ran here. Great article.
A whole row of 20″ tall bronze chums… you want one? Well, cough up $30k!

With the man of the hour himself (above).

Honor Fraser @ 2622 S. La Cienega Blvd in Los Angeles / 310.837.0191

“The Long Way Home” from KAWS (On view through April 4th)

KAWS @ Royal/T (VIP opening)…

As art fans entered Royal/T this eve to check out the special curated exhibit from KAWS, they were greated by an 8′ tall pink Chum figure… what a way to set things off from the get go!
Title wall @ Royal/T…

When we arrived at 8:30PM, the place was already packed and filling up more by the minute…

Worlds collide (l-r): James Jean, man of the hour KAWS, and Gary Baseman
KAWS‘ “I Can’t Feel My Face” (the show’s namesake) alongside Fred Wilson‘s “Drip Drop Plop” (with KAWS‘ 8’ Pink Chum looming in the far distance)…
Hideaki Kawashima “Bubble”

Lisa Yuskavage “Grooming”

Seth Carmichael (Carmichael Gallery) & KAWS uber collector Ronnie Pirovino (The Art Collectors blog/forum) alongside collectors John Lisenbery and Robert Moore

Mark Dean Veca with collector and Linkin Park DJ Joe Hahn

Richard Prince “Nurse Dormitory #3”

Front to back, it was a mob scene… it seemed that everyone in the LA scene was out. Artists were out in droves to show their respect to KAWS… spotted were Gary Baseman, James Jean, Tim Biskup, Yoskay Yamamoto, Nate Frizzell, Mark Dean Veca, Todd James (aka Reas), Tessar Lo, Edwin Ushiro, & many more, not to mention several key members of the LA art world.

(l-r) Nate Frizzell, Christine Le Basse & Beau Basse (Le Basse Projects), Jack from Vinyl Pulse, and Shawn Hosner (Thinkspace Gallery)
Mr. “Yoko Natsu Chan” (one of 10 heads in an installation)

KAWS singing one of his ‘Warm Regards Bars’…

Show card alongside my sketchbook complete with a sick KAWS Blitz Bomb drawing and a nice tag from Todd James (aka Reas)

Check out a lil’ video tour of the ‘I Can’t Feel My Face’ curated exhibit by KAWS that’s currently on view now at Royal/T in Culver City.

Be sure to swing by tomorrow afternoon to Royal/T, before heading out to KAWS‘ solo at Honor Fraser. It’s gonna be a mad house guaranteed, so get there early.

‘I Can’t Feel My Face’ will be on view at Royal/T through September 7th, so be sure to check it out as KAWS did a great job picking some beautfiul works from Susan Hancock‘s stunning collection for this special curation. The exhibit featues works from Olaf Breuning, Carol Dunham, Andre Eithier, Mr., Yoshitomo Nara, Oliver Payne & Nick Relph, Richard Prince, William Sasnal, David Shrigley, Jim Torok and Yan Pei-Ming.

Look for coverage from the KAWS solo at Honor Fraser here tomorrow, along with many of the other big openings that will be keeping LA art lovers busy this Saturday.

Big VIP event at Royal/T this eve with KAWS…

KAWS fans around LA are no doubt clammering about to get on the guest list for tonight’s VIP only event at Royal/T in Culver City… KAWS has curated a special exhibit of works from the collection of Royal/T owner Susan Hancock. This event serves as a kick off of sorts for KAWS’ big debut Los Angeles solo show that takes place tomorrow, Sat, Feb. 21st, at Honor Fraser (also located in the Culver City area and previously previewed here a few times already).

Some great sneak peeks of his show over at Honor Fraser were just posted today over at SuperTouch here. Can’t wait to see the new body of work up close and in person!

Look for full coverage from the special Royal/T event later this evening as well as a full recap of all the big Saturday openings (see post below), including the KAWS solo exhibit, this Sunday afternoon. Yet another amazing weekend for the arts in Los Angeles!!!

Recommended openings to catch this weekend…

Matt Furie (@ New Image Art this Sat)
Opening on February 19th (Noon – 5PM / $10 admission)
Skirball Cultural Center
2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd in Los Angeles / 310.440.4500
“ZAP! POW! BAM! The Superhero: The Golden Age Of Comic Books 1938-1950” – guest curated by Jerry Robinson, part of the original Batman team and a lifelong professional cartoonist
(On view through August 9th)
http://www.skirball.org/

Sat, Feb. 21st 7-10PM
Corey Helford Gallery
8522 Washington Blvd in Culver City / 310.287.2340
“Hooker Dreamscape” featuring new works from Natalia Fabia
(On view through March 14th)
http://www.coreyhelfordgallery.com/

Sat, Feb. 21st 5-7PM
Richard Heller Gallery
2525 Michigan Ave, Space B-5A at Bergamot Station in Santa Monica / 310.453.9191
“Molten Kin” – new works from Rachell Sumpter
(On view through March 21st)
http://www.richardhellergallery.com/

Sat, Feb. 21st 6-8PM
Honor Fraser
2622 S. La Cienega Blvd in Los Angeles / 310.837.0191
“The Long Way Home” featuring new works from KAWS
(On view through April 4th)
http://www.honorfraser.com/

Sat, Feb. 21st 6-9PM
Kopeikin Gallery

8810 Melrose Ave in West Hollywood / 310.385.5894
‘Beautiful/Decay A To Z’ – issue Z release and special exhibition in celebration of reaching issue ‘Z’, Beautiful/Decay has curated a special show featuring 26 artists including the likes of Robbie Conal, Gary Taxali, Skwak, Aya Kato, Aaron Noble, Jacob Magraw, Suntek Chung and many more – come on out and give B/D some well earned love and support.

Sat, Feb. 21st 7-10PM
New Image Art
7908 Santa Monica Blvd. in Los Angeles / 323.654.2192
“Yeah, The F*cking Crap Of Life…” featuring new works from Megan Whitmarsh plus new works from Matt Furie (*pictured above) and C.F. in the project room with a performance from Dolphin Force
(On view through March 21st)

KAWS has landed…

KAWS has arrived in town… and this Friday is the hot ticket VIP only party at Royal/T in Culver City (see main window above complete with neon pink life-size Chum). The special VIP event helps to kick things off proper and leads into the opening reception for his new exhibit, The Long Way Home, at Honor Fraser (2622 S. La Cienega) that opens this Saturday, February 21st from 6-8PM. Look for pictures from the Friday night VIP event on Saturday afternoon here, leading into the opening night of his debut Los Angeles solo show. It’s sure to be a packed house, and there’s no preview for the show, so be sure to get to Honor Fraser early this Saturday!