Street artist KAWS (Brian Donnelly, b. 1974, Jersey City, NJ) is a polarizing figure in the art world, to say the least. Recently, the Brooklyn Museum took the bold, if certainly controversial, stance of offering him a full-dress retrospective in 2021. We here at Daily Plinth will defer on whether or not he is a great artist, but we will defend to the death Brooklyn Museum’s decision to give him a solo exhibition. We may be paraphrasing something there.
Coming from the controversial Los Angeles street art booster Daniel Lahoda, here’s footage from 1997 of KAWS installing some of his earliest works in New York City bus stops and in Japan, along with a bit of commentary from street art legend Ron English. Judge for yourself.