On the street with Elmo

THE MOST conspicuous visitor to Central Embassy these days is Elmo, one of the loveable furry muppets from the US children’s TV show “Sesame Street”. And who knew he was eight metres tall?

Elmo is hitting the mall courtesy of American artist Brian Donnelly, who goes by the name Kaws. The gigantic sculpture, titled “BFF” (Best Friend Forever) will be on display out front of Central Embassy for the next three weeks.

Symbolising loving, lasting relationships, “BFF” is just as furry as the Jim Henson puppet who became a TV star, but he’s not the “red monster” seen on television – he’s a deep blue. That’s one of several ways Kaws sets his creations apart. His Elmo, looking rather blissed-out with big X’s over his eyes, is one of his celebrated “Companion” series. 

Kaws was aware he had fans in Thailand and knew “this is would be a good chance for them to see my work”. 

“So I designed a new character related to ‘Companion’, with a new texture and feeling. I figured sculpting a hard material to look like fur would be challenging.”

He’s met the challenge well – the fur looks authentic enough for an eight-metre-tall puppet. “The blue colour isn’t representative of sadness in particular,” he laughs.

The New Jersey native has been touring the world with his paintings and jumbo 3D pieces. The curator group AllRightReserve brought his installations “Passing Through” and “Clean Slate” to Hong Kong and Shanghai, and recently the Yorkshire Sculpture Park in northern England hosted an exhibition. 

Brian Donnelly graduated from the School of Visual Arts in New York and did freelance work for Disney, chiefly painting backgrounds. He contributed to the 1996 remake of “101 Dalmatians”. 

The Kaws alter ego emerged as a graffiti artist in Jersey City, where more than a few bus stops and phone booths got the Kaws treatment. By the end of the ’90s he was designing and marketing vinyl toys that caught on with collectors. In 2006 Japan’s Medicom Toy recruited him for its Original Fake line of wildly decorated playthings.

“I’ve loved art since I was little,” Kaws says. “You know how, in school, you get good at either English or math? I knew that wasn’t what I wanted, but I never considered it an option to be an artist when I grew up.”

He talks about his days as a street artist with fondness and a gentle defensiveness. He doesn’t like categories and bristles at the suggestion that graffiti is somehow inferior to other genres. “To my mind it’s a major form of art. You see some street art going into the galleries and then they call it ‘contemporary art’. 

“But art in whatever form is a channel to share your ideas with people, the same as other products, like fashion.”

To this end Kaws has put several icons of childhood to clever use. He’s given fresh life to cartoon characters Mickey Mouse, Snoopy, Tweetie Pie and the Simpsons and even borrowed the Michelin Man from the advertising industry. They’re all given his trademark makeover, including crossed-out eyes and dramatic choices of colour. 

“I did street art for years, playing with many motifs,” he says. “And I’ve just carried on like that, presenting them in new ways. My style has gone through many different transformations in materials and iconography.”

He’s had solo exhibitions everywhere from Spain and France to Hong Kong and Kansas, deep in the US Midwest. Other Kaws collaborations, meanwhile, have seen him partnered with clothing brands Nike, Vans, DC Shoes and Comme des Garcons, among others. 

“It’s a good way to learn,” he says. “Normally you pick up things from the companies you work with – how they present themselves, how they go about doing projects and rolling things out. You see things you like and things you don’t like, but in the end you can’t help but pick up new information.”

The chance to own limited edition “Kaws: BFF” collectibles – 20-inch-tall plush toys, T-shirts, tote bags and umbrellas – drew about 100 hardcore Kaws fans from home and aboard to the Central Embassy concept store Siwilai last week. 

“It’s hard for me to gauge why certain things I make work in certain countries,” says the creator. “I’m just happy my work is accessible. The great thing about cartoons is that they cross all borders – I grew up with the some of the same cartoons you grew up with, even though we might have very different cultures. 

“That’s the thing I like about cartoon characters, as opposed to human celebrities. The people get very compartmentalised within different countries and languages. Cartoons have the power to skip over all barriers.” 

The Atrium on the mall’s ground floor is displaying Kaws’ screened prints on sturdy watercolour paper. You can see Snoopy, the Smurfs and other favourites among prints with titles like “Ups and Downs”, “You Should Know I Know” and “The Things That Comfort”.

“I utilise a lot of characters in my paintings, but I don’t include any narration – some of the pieces of the puzzle are missing. And you can see I use a more abstract style.

“I’m doing new pieces for the touring exhibition that will be shown in October, starting in Texas and then moving to Shanghai. It’s a 20-year survey of my work – the whole 450 pieces.” 

 

 

FIND YOURSELF A NEW BFF

>> The exhibition “Kaws: BFF” continues all this month at Central Embassy. The mall is open daily from 10 to 10. 

>> The limited edition merchandise is sold at the Siwilai store on the fifth floor.