KAWS in Dialogue: Karl Wirsum & Tomoo Gokita

Brooklyn-based artists Brian Donnelly, a.k.a. KAWS (1974- ), has created an astute and prolific body of work that includes graffiti writings, street art, graphic and product design, limited toy editions, paintings, murals, and large-scale sculptures. He is considered one of the most relevant artists of his generation: a savvy tastemaker, sharp businessman, and most recently, an important collector.

This exhibition presents works by KAWS alongside pieces, selected from his personal collection, by two seemingly unrelated artists: Karl Wirsum and Tomoo Gokita. Born in Japan (1969-), Gokita lives near Tokyo in the idyllic suburb of Chōfu. A life-long resident of , Wirsum (1939-) was part of the 1966 Hairy Who exhibition that included amongst others.1 Since 1972, this group has been known as the and are recognized for their “irreverence, over-the-top antics, and sometimes gross impoliteness always is given form with the greatest craftsmanship.”2 Wirsum’s work is known for his exuberant, brightly colored idiosyncratic figures composed with expressionist and cartoonish lines, while Gokita creates sleek and enigmatic monochromatic faceless portraits. KAWS, however, sees commonalities to which he relates, evidenced not only by collecting their work, but also by showing it next to his.3

Artists, like KAWS, who collect art as a practice is a somewhat habitual operation. The Chicago Imagists, for example, did so decades earlier. Their practice may be traced to the teachings of Ray Yoshida, a professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), who encouraged his students, including many of the Imagists, to actively and deliberately collect.4 Yoshida’s former student Jim Nutt (whose works KAWS also owns) recalled that Yoshida’s collecting strategy “allowed all sorts of things to enter his [Yoshida’s] mind and, as a result, he was constantly having discoveries.”5 By surrounding themselves with works they deem interesting, inspirational, celebratory, critical, conflicting, or problematic, artists create a fertile ground of possibilities where they may engage their own creativity.

This collection-based methodology, however, is highly subjective. French cultural theorist Jean Baudrillard explains that the objects with which we surround ourselves arouse passion:

1 The Hairy Who included Art Green, , James Falcone, Jim Falconer, and Suellen Rocca. When discussing the yet unnamed exhibition, the artists found themselves referring to Harry Bouras, a local radio critic who reviewed artists and exhibitions. When Karl Wirsum asked “Harry Who?” the group found their title. Lynne Warren, “Chicago Imagism: The Derivation of a Term,” Chicago Imagists (Chicago: Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, 2011), 19. 2 Richard H. Axsom, “L.A. Spap / Chicago Crackle / New York Pop,” in Ibid, 44. 3 KAWS collection includes works by H.C. Westermann (who attended the SAIC a generation before the Chicago Imagists) and Peter Saul (who showed at Chicago’s Allan Frumkin Gallery often attended by the Chicago Imagists and for which KAWS has special fondness) and art world darlings like Crumb, Keith Harring, Richard Prince, Jeff Koons, Gary Panther, Raymond Pettibon, Mike Kelly, Erik Parker, and Todd James, plus leading Japanese artists Keiichi Tanaami, Takashi Murakami, and Kaz Oshiro.

Among the various meanings of the French word object, the Littré dictionary gives this: “Anything which is the cause or subject of a passion. Figuratively and most typically: the loved object.”6

Baudrillard further notes that the collector sees his (or herself) expressed in the collected objects. Categorizing, gathering, disposing, (we will add) displaying one’s collection, he suggests, is like playing with a mirror constructed of throw back images not of the real but of the desirable. These objects emerge as the ideal reflecting mechanism resulting in a play where “the image of the self is extended to the very limits of the collection…For it is invariably oneself that one collects.”7

We could therefore consider that KAWS sees the works of Wirsum and Gokita as an extension of his own identity. Furthermore, by displaying his own work next to theirs in this exhibition, he reinforces the notion that the works affirm each other and ultimately, him. Indeed Baudrillard argues that all objects in a collection “constitute themselves as a system, on the basis of which the subject seeks to piece together his world, his personal microcosm.”8 Hence, the exhibition presents itself not only as a comparative exercise but as a world of its own, much like a cabinet of curiosities. And as Baudrillard would have it, “curiosity can be the most extravagant of passions.”9

KAWS has a passion for popular culture, whether in art, design, architecture, or fashion. He grew up in New Jersey watching cartoons, playing with Smurf toys, skateboarding, and ultimately (spray) painting. He furthered his passions by studying illustration at the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in Manhattan in the early 1990s. By then he was already well versed in graffiti, having prolifically tagged walls and freight trains with the letters K A W S. He soon targeted other highly visible locations such as billboards and bus shelters advertising everything from name brands like DKNY and Guess to beverages whether alcohol or milk.10 His interventions were comprised mainly of a serpentine figure wrapped around the body of sexy models; and they had a particular blend of bravura and humor.

Indeed, humor is part of KAWS’ interest in Karl Wirsum’s work and the Chicago Imagists as a whole. Speaking about this group of artists, curator Lynn Warren noted that “rarely has an entire movement shown so many aspects of comedy.” She added, however, that “not all ‘funnies’ are funny.” For her, Wirsum’s work in particular seems “the most jokey, playful, and animated by puns, irony, visual gags, and general high spirits.”11

Chicago Imagists looked at their urban, gritty environment, as well as popular culture, comic books, toys, folk and non-Western art, and surrealism for inspiration. Wirsum specifically was influenced by some of the era’s most iconoclastic musicians—such as

6 Jean Baudrillard, “The System of Collecting”, in The Cultures of Collecting, eds. John Elsner and Roger Cardinal (Massachusetts: Harvard Univ. Press, 1994), 7 7 Baudrillard, p. 10-12 8 Ibid, p. 7 9 Ibid, p. 12 10 Having gained access to a tool that opened the shelter boxes, he would take the printed posters back to his studio, integrate his work seamlessly into the mass-produced images, and then return them to their original location. 11 Warren, “Jest Digestion: [Truly Awful] Puns, [Genitalia] Jokes, and [Caustic] Wit in Chicago Imagists”, in Chicago Imagists, 137,139 Screamin’ Jay Hawkins—known for controversial, highly sexualized songs, and by Chicago’s diverse communities.12 With wit and an expressive use of cartoonish, dynamic lines, dots, flat surfaces, and eclectic colors, Wirsum creates nearly abstracted hybridized figures that border on the grotesque. The works’ strong graphic nature and humor helps to mitigate the contrarian, sometimes vulgar, attitudes found in his and his fellow Chicago Imagists’ artworks.

A 1966 review of The Hairy Who exhibition where Wirsum first received critical attention observed, “It’s mad, it’s monstrous, it’s how a group [the Hairy Who] of Midwestern individuals rejected the Paris, New York or West Coast model to form a school that is distinctly its own.”13 Artistic irreverence and incitement to visceral reactions are exactly the attitudes that resonate with KAWS.

During college, KAWS continued developing his own vocabulary adding to his repertoire a cartoonish soft skull with crossbones and crossed-out eyes, soon to become one of his signature gestures. After college, he worked as a freelancer for the animations studio Jumbo, later purchased by Disney. This experience further influenced his vocabulary and technique. For example, he started using cell paint, typically used in animation for its opacity, to create flat surfaces for his posters. Moreover, the work catalyzed his appropriation of iconic characters from popular culture and comic books such as Mickey Mouse, the Michelin Man, Snoopy, Garfield, the Smurfs, and the Simpsons, to which he added his inflated skull and crossbones.

KAWS’ skull and crossbones stemmed from its universality and accessibility, everyone recognizes a skull and crossbones, and associations with death as well, underscoring the notion that “not all ‘funnies’ are funny.” By inserting his skulls into mass marketing campaigns or popular culture figures, KAWS withstands commodification as well as established artistic conventions that consider resistant positions as “mad and monstrous.” Viewers commonly have a visceral reaction to the work of Wirsum and KAWS. Both resort to humor, moody characters, and hybridized figures, such as KAWS’ Companion (fig. x) or Wirsum’s Craned Mutiny at the Cantilever Cannery and Yodel Me Back to Orville Overhaul (figs x, x). Furthermore, KAWS appropriates beloved pop- culture characters, whether Mickey Mouse or Homer Simpson, and “takes them down”14 with the addition of his skull.

KAWS’ first Companion from 199915 was a toy edition produced in Japan, two years after his first trip to the country. There he became acquainted with designers for clothing labels such as HECTIC, and *A Bathing Ape, Bounty Hunter, and Neighborhood, known for their high-end, impeccably crafted apparel that appeals to young adults with references to popular culture. From them he thus learned how to engage younger audiences and to vigorously monitor the quality of his products.

12 Jane Simon, “The Brash, The Sexy, and The Political: Chicago and the Imagists,” in Ibid, 104 13 Stephen Fleishman, “Fanning the Flames in Windy City,” in Ibid, 30 14 Interview in ANP Quarterly, 2009 (confirm origin of quote) 15 Since this original seven and three-quarter inch toy, the COMPANION has embodied different poses and changed dramatically in scale including a gigantic outdoor sixteen-foot tall version COMPANION (PASSING THROUGH) sitting down with both gloved hands covering its face in this exhibition, and a thirty two-foot tall wooden sculpture SMALL LIE shown in 2013 for the London art fair FRIEZE.

Given the popularity of his toy editions and collaborations with Nigo’s *A Bathing Ape, the artist had the opportunity to open his own store in Tokyo, called OriginalFake, in 2006. During that time, KAWS frequently travelled to Japan where he was not only aware of the future trends, he was setting them. Coming to a close in 2013, his venture relied on his understanding of Japanese youth urban culture and its appreciation for detail and sleek deliverables. Through this experience, he also came to know Tokyo’s art galleries, including Taka Ishi Gallery, where he first saw the work of Tomoo Gokita. [check this with KAWS]

Gokita demonstrates a technical mastery, achieving a refined and singular style. Gokita’s outstanding execution, an understated bi-chromatic palette, and the ability to straddle the worlds of figuration and abstraction are all qualities intriguing to KAWS. Well known for his use of shocking and playful colors, KAWS employs monochromes or bi- chromes as respites before engaging projects with new color combinations. Most recently, his compositions increasingly present conversation between figuration and abstraction.

KAWS resorts to highly recognizable comic and cartoon characters, and submits them to a rigorous process of abstraction. Selecting and reducing the figures to a handful of concise and graphic lines, he creates pictorial abbreviations that function almost like logotypes. His process includes exploring the characters on both a macro and micro scale, often avoiding a fully comprehensible central image. Sometimes the main character is only present through the shape of the canvas. Stripped down to their fundamental parts, these paintings operate in the realm of abstraction where the complete extension of the surface of the painting is of paramount importance. Influenced by the rubbery finish of animation cell paint, KAWS surfaces are delineated and flat to perfection, saturating the whole canvas with equal importance.

Similarly demonstrating a mastery of technique, Gokita creates nebulous environments with pristine black to white/white to black gradiations that imply three-dimensional forms like hair, limbs, and, most importantly, blurred out faces. In contrast, small flat areas of black or white appear across the canvas, creating disruptive visual queues that rupture the otherwise smooth canvas. Gokita’s brooding paintings recall the work of Italian surrealist Giorgio De Chirico whose recurring motifs such as arcades, towers, and mannequins suggest the absence of humans; they are images of emptiness.

Like Gokita, KAWS presents a cancellation of humanity through the omission of facial characteristics. If KAWS replaces a face and head with an inflated skull and crossbones, he does so to decry our society’s obsession with popular culture celebrities, whether real or imaginary. Through artistic modification, KAWS imbues characters with distinct moods to convey fatigue, aging, and insecurity: real qualities of the human condition. Gokita’s renderings, on the other hand, may not derive from an indifference to facial lineaments but rather to an obsession with the body. During his childhood, his father edited the advertising pages of the Japanese edition of Playboy, and the images resonated with him. Indeed, Gokita has admitted, “I would say, for sure, that has had a large influence on my female figures.”16

16 Austin McManus, “Tomoo Gokita: The Unexpected Story of the Wrestler,” Juxtapose Magazine, March, 2015 Gokita’s resistance to facial features may also stem from his interest in Mexican wrestling culture (Mexican wrestlers generally wear masks) and how wrestlers can transform into several different characters simply by hiding their faces. Across cultures, masks serve to disguise as well as to protect and liberate thereby bridging aggression and vulnerability, provocation and yet defense, explains Michael Brenson. (Brenson reviewed the 1984 Whitney exhibition Modern Masks that included works by Wirsum, masks similar to Sculpture E and Masked Plunge into the Abyss II in this exhibition.) For Gokita, masks, particularly those worn by wrestlers “stir the imagination of the audience” and contribute to a self-fashioned identity full of possibilities. He further describes his interest in wrestling by praising its “fake” nature. “Wresting is generally thought of as ‘fake’ or ‘staged’ […] The wresting world, which was a mix of true or false and craziness, is attractive and still successful”, and it will “never go extinct”17, he adds.

The appreciation for what is “fake” runs deep in the three artists’ work: in addition to Gokita’s interest in staged wrestling, Wirsum participated in two exhibitions, in 1968 and 1969, titled The False Image and KAWS’ retail store bore the name OriginalFake, reflecting his strategy of appropriating and reimagining icons of popular culture. They relish notions of falsehood and fakeness because they consider these qualities to be moments of truth. Falsehood helps them resist rote participation in a system with which they do not agree but still take part in. By embracing the fake, these artists challenge established systems of the art world, contributing to them but with a critical eye.

This criticality also includes considering young adults an important audience. Given the three artists integrate popular culture in their work, contemporary audiences “who have been raised on the notion of popular culture as ‘the culture’ –TV, cartoons, music, movies, pulp fiction, graphic novels, stand-up comedy (as opposed to religion, mythology, historical and classical art references, poetry, literature, etc.) – […] are not puzzled by its appearance in art”18, explains curator Lynn Warren, furthermore, she suggests the Chicago Imagists “were youth culture in action.”19 The Imagists’ held a fascination with “funny, pathetic, and provocative” relationships and thus explains, “Younger audiences seem to be apprehending it directly, for it speaks to their own experience.”20

The work by Wirsum, Gokita, and KAWS speaks to young adults who, most importantly, are trying similarly to fit in a world while attempting to make it their own. The three artists present young audiences with strategies that are accessible, humorous and irreverent while also demonstrating a serious commitment to their craft and to contributing to the field of art with resistant works that expand the definition of art in the manner of these artists. And here lies yet another aspect they offer to youth, and that is optimism. The three have found recognition in the complex and convoluted world of art, and have done so with their own language and in their own terms. When KAWS was asked by New York Magazine what makes someone a New Yorker, he replied: “endless optimism.”21

Endless optimism—and endless playfulness—is an important strategy for these artists. Let us not forget that KAWS’ characters are materialized in toy editions as well as large-

17 Ibid. 18 Warren, 139 19 Ibid, 138 20 Ibid, 139 21 Vanita Salisbury “Daily Intelligencer/21 Questions,” New York Magazine, November 8, 2013 scale outdoor sculptures, such as this exhibition’s outdoor sixteen-foot tall COMPANION (Passing Through). As he navigates life, feeling happy, confident, strong, exhausted, or overwhelmed, so do his COMPANION characters. They proliferate, age, and transform with him, and each time they reveal something slightly different. For KAWS, his toys and toy-like sculptures are a subject of relevance and significance.22 They are vehicles for creative and instructive play that not only recalls memories of childhood but also offers adults opportunities to reconnect with their youth.23 A similar interaction takes place when KAWS plays with his collection. In the same manner that the COMPANIONS are sort of extension of his persona, so too are the objects in the collection.

This exhibition may very well represent a playful environment where collecting conventions are challenged, given KAWS’ (and these artists’) anti-establishment conventions. By placing his own work next to those of Wirsum and Gokita, KAWS challenges the distinction between collector and collection, and confirms the notion that the collector ultimately collects himself.24

One other aspect of collecting informs this exhibition, if we are to recall Baudrillard. He argues that when one gathers, categorizes, arranges, and rearranges items in a collection, the activity facilitates the conquest of time. He explains, “Not only do objects help us master the world, by virtue of their being inserted into practical sets, they also help us, by virtue of their being inserted into mental sets, to establish dominion over time.”25

The same disruption of temporal linearity is found when children are playing with their toys. In both playing and collecting, there is a dominion over time in the sense that moment is different, otherworldly, and, ultimately, unlike chronotmetric exactitude, a sense of time “indissociable from material constraints, social intercourses, and death.”26 Both activities imply controlled cycles of time where one can experiment with perpetual fresh beginnings; one can stop and start again, and keep on trying. Living in this dimension of existence, Baudrillard elucidates, is as essential as the imaginary, as necessary as our dreams.27

Tellingly, when asked by New York Magazine in the same 2013 interview to summarize his daily professional life, KAWS replied, “I make stuff I dream about come to fruition.”

And as such, for these artists, eternal optimism is made of dreams.

22 Monica Ramirez-Montagut, “FINAL DAYS and yet not so,” in KAWS, Final Days, (Málaga, Spain: Centro de Arte Contemporáneo de Málaga, 2014) 26 23 Ibid. 28 24 Baudrillard, 12 25 Ibid, 15 26 Ibid. 27 Ibid, 16