By Charles Basa

For the street culture cognoscenti, KAWS needs no introduction. A mention of the name immediately summons an image of a Mickey Mouse caricature in the mind—white gloves, X’d out eyes and all. But that’s not KAWS per se, that’s one of his brainchildren known as Companion. Brian Donnelly, KAWS himself can move around the world mostly unabated, his creations cannot. For the pair of eyeballs that his characters are missing, there’s many more on them wherever they go.

Much of their celebrity can be attributed to the design DNA and artistic vocabulary of their maker. A signature motif so distinct they can transcend spaces and mediums; whether it be museum galleries or the metaverse, on things tangible or intangible. Possessing such motility, KAWS has been able to make an indelible mark across various facets of the art world, being one of the very few, able to erode the soil between high culture and low.

Every month he seems to make the news: a new collaboration, a new exhibition, at a far-out new place (or outer space). It’s almost difficult to keep up with the ubiquity or rather, the omnipresence.

In celebration of his 48th birthday, we take up the Sherlock Holmes mantle and follow the trail of one Brian Donnelly across the precipice of a post-pandemic world of 2022. Let’s chart a KAWS.

KAWS:HOLIDAY Tour – Changbai Mountain

He starts the year off on a high, literally, at an altitude of 2,750 meters. Traveling since 2018, Companion and his junior find rest and respite during the eighth stop of their “KAWS:HOLIDAY” tour, on the grounds of Changbai Mountain. Located in Jilin Province, on the border between North China and North Korea, the larger-than-life pair find themselves unusually dwarfed by the vast expanse of snow and sky.

It was a two-year journey getting there, on a ship captained by longtime KAWS partner, AllRightsReserved, and supported by outdoor specialist The North Face. The sojourn lasted 11 days from 6th January to the 16th, through the biting-cold January winter.

When you’ve been to some of the most remote corners of Planet Earth, laid down on the waters of Hong Kong, taken to the air in Bristol, one must wonder—what is the next frontier?

“NEW FICTION” Exhibition – Metaverse

And the answer is… out of this world.

With the help of AR designers Acute Art, Epic Games of Fortnite fame, and London’s Serpetine Galleries, KAWS travels to the metaverse through his “NEW FICTION” exhibition. His first in London presents new and recent works in physical and augmented reality.

KAWS and Epic Games’ maiden voyage together produced a Halloween skin pack for Fortnite but through this showcase, for the game’s millions-strong user base, they’ll be able to for the first time access a real-world art show virtually. Speaking on the exhibition with the Guardian, KAWS expounds that this could be “the first time they walk around a space like that, experiencing painting and sculpture in the video game that they’re completely comfortable in and used to.”

“KACHAMUKKU” Vinyl Toys – Monsterverse

From the uncharted realm of the metaverse, KAWS goes back to familiar terra firma with monsters, the uncanny and the like. Months prior, KAWS begun correspondence with Gachapin and Mukku, the eponymous characters of the popular Japanese children’s show. In these exchanges, he tells them he would be sending them a toy inspired by their show. He comes through on his word to their delight, as seen by their reactions.

KACHAMUKKU, a portmanteau of the parties involved, first debuted during the KAWS TOKYO FIRST exhibition. The hybrid figure features the two furry characters fused together in a singular body frame retrofitted with the signature crossbones on the head and the “XX” eyes. The first iteration largely retains the aesthetic and spirit of the show, with the second one veering more closely to the all-black palette aplenty in the artists’ catalogue.

“KAWS for Kid CuDi” Collection – Outer Space

It wouldn’t be KAWS’ first foray into space. Back in 2020 for his 20th anniversary, KAWS donned Companion in a golden spacesuit and ventured into the Stratosphere at least 40 kilometers above ground. For this “Intergalactic” second tour, he rendezvous with the Man on the Moon, Kid Cudi to produce a “Man on the Moon” Trilogy Box Set, along with an accompanying apparel. The offerings that span across t-shirts and hoodies sees Companion once more in the spacesuit, sitting on a chair, lamenting. Lamenting what, possibly what’s next after going to the moon and back. What did Neil Armstrong do after Apollo 11?

KAWS x The North Face Second Collection – Homebound

If KAWS started off the year in the coldest regions of the planet, he ends the year in the same fashion—no pun intended. The year alone sees him releasing two apparel collaborations with The North Face, one earlier this year and another in the past month. While the first was aimed to bring “heat” to the slopes through the vibrant aesthetic, the second focuses on elevating performance in the terrain through TNF’s Expedition System.

It isn’t quite the spacesuit that Companion has but the apparel was designed to withstand the coldest environments from the Himalayas to Antarctica. The engineering behind the garments were relentlessly tested by the makers’ roster of athletes since it was first launched in 1990, becoming the blueprint for their succeeding range.

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There’s a full month left before the curtains draw on 2022. For the restless nomad, there’s no telling what else is in store (not because his pieces sell out fast), but wherever he goes, people will follow.

Images via KAWS, Epic Games, Serpentine Galleries, Kid Cudi, and The North Face