Toys go large at KAWS’ ‘Final Day’ exhibition in Málaga

Kaws' monumental 'Final Days' centrepiece is 6 metres high and weighs a massive 10 tonnes

“It’s amusing to think that when I work on a large-format piece in bronze or wood it’s termed sculpture… but if I do the same piece in plastic on a small scale, it’s called a toy.“ So says US painter, sculptor and designer KAWS, whose first solo exhibition in Spain – entitled ‘Final Days’ – is currently running at the prestigious CAC Málaga Centre of Contemporary Art.

As a precursor of the Art & Toys movement, according to Fernando Francés, director of the CAC Málaga, “KAWS is capable of creating a particularly edgy mood, moving in areas of the subconscious like a fish in water.”

Falling within the iconography genre, the showcase features five large-scale sculptures carved from wood and which have never before been exhibited…

Representing iconic pop culture characters such as SpongeBob, Mickey Mouse, Pinocchio and the Michelin Man… but with skulls for heads, bones imitating hair and ears, and x’s instead of eyes, most of KAWS’ works are around two metres high and weigh in at one tonne each.

However, the ‘Final Days’ centrepiece is a monumental sculpture which stands six metres high, has a diameter of three metres and weighs a massive ten tonnes. But it’s not only the sheer size of these works deriving from cartoons that set them apart. Their poses and expressions significantly distance them from their apparently innocent appearance, with KAWS pointing out that his characters’ poses reflect the way he himself would feel if he was constantly in the public eye.

Kaws says his characters' poses reflect the way he himself would feel if constantly in the public eye

Born in New Jersey in 1974 and currently living in Brooklyn, KAWS has worked in Disney’s design department, as well as on several international publications including NY Magazine, Complex and Vogue. He has also collaborated with Tokyo’s Medicom Toy manufacturer and his works of art have been exhibited in major galleries and museums from New York to Hong Kong, and from Tokyo to France, the UK… and now the capital of the Costa del Sol!

The ‘Final Days’ exhibition runs until 22 June 2014 at the CAC Málaga Centro de Arte Contemporáneo on C/ Alemania in the heart of Málaga. Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 10am to 2pm & 5pm to 9pm Tel: (+34) 952 120 055