Street artist turned pop icon KAWS unveiled a new body of work, entitled Pay the Debt to Nature (previewed), at the Paris branch of Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin last night. Highlighting his immediately identifiable style though a collection of new acrylic paintings, the most well-known cartoon character of the 21st century took center stage in signature KAWS fashion. With clean lines and bold colors, Spongebob was dissected into puzzle-like fragments and pieced back together into multi-panel assemblages, a unique technique first seen early this year during ARCO Madrid (covered) and later perfected in dramatic fashion for the center stage installation at his debut museum exhibition (covered).
A selection of his more abstract compositions, each rendered with near surgeon-like precision at mammoth scales, were also on display, along with a growing family of life size vinyl sculptures that included a brand new 10 foot Companion. The show serves as an emphatic exclamation point to what has been a landmark year for the Brooklyn-based artist, who continues to assert himself as a formidable presence in the contemporary art world.
More opening photos after the jump.
Photos courtesy of Selim Varol (AM:EU)
Discuss this show here.
Discuss KAWS here.
