The exhibition in NGV titled KAWS: Companionship in the Age of Loneliness foregrounds the emotional content of the artist’s work. Through his works KAWS celebrates generosity, support for others and the deep need we have for companionship. KAWS represents someone who is very much of our time in terms of working across contexts and in hybrid and collaborative ways, and his work presents an antidote or rejoinder to the increasingly toxic nature of public discourse and social media, and division within and across societies. He reminds us we need one another and that life should be lived as compassionately as possible to combat this ‘Age of Loneliness’, in the face of fear and hatred.

Brian Donnelly (born 1974), aka KAWS, is one of the most prominent and prolific artists of his generation. His body of work straddles the worlds of art, fashion and design to include paintings, murals, large-scale sculptures, street and public art, and fashion, graphic and product design. His work is infused with humour, humanity and affection for our times. Admired for his larger-than-life sculptures and colour-filled paintings, KAWS’s cast of hybrid cartoon and human characters are drawn from pop-culture animations and form a distinctive artistic vocabulary. 

维多利亚国家美术馆-NGV以“KAWS”命名的展览会：孤独时代的陪伴，细致展现艺术家作品的情感内容。通过创作，KAWS颂扬慷慨、对他人的支撑以及人们对友谊的深切需求。KAWS所代表的是某些以跨领域、混合协作方式在不同环境中工作的人，他的作品反映公共话语和社交媒体日益恶化的本质，包括社会内部之间交叉分歧的一种纠正或反驳。他提醒我们，我们需要彼此，在面对恐惧和仇恨的时刻，应该尽可能富有怜悯心的生活，战胜 “孤独时代”。

出生于 1974 年的 Brian Donnelly，又名KAWS，是属于他这一代出色且多产的艺术家之一。他的作品横跨艺术、时尚和设计的世界，包括绘画、壁画、大型雕塑、街头和公共艺术，包含时尚、平面和产品设计。而所有作品充满了幽默、人性和对于时代的热爱。KAWS 以其专属传奇色彩的雕塑和色彩丰富的绘画而备受推崇，卡通和人物角色的混合阵容来自流行文化动画，形成了独特的艺术词汇。

Text by CHT & Photography by Layzhoz Yeap