KAWS + Warhol

May 18, 2024 – January 20, 2025

Painting showing two identical images of a car crash and body hanging out of a car window. In front of the painting a sculpture shows a figure laying face down. — *KAWS + Warhol* exhibition view at The Andy Warhol Museum.

Logo for KAWS + Warhpol

In celebration of its 30^th anniversary, The Warhol presents KAWS + Warhol, the first exhibition to examine the dark themes present in the work of both artists. From skulls to car crashes, both artists deploy their signature bright colors and pop culture references while also presenting the lurid spectacle of death. The dark undercurrents in the work of KAWS and Warhol are magnified and brought into plain sight by presenting the two artists together for the first time.

KAWS will also respond to Warhol’s embrace of commercialism by presenting a new series of paintings, sculptures, and installations related to his recent commission with General Mills which inserted his signature characters into the packaging for some of America’s most loved cereal boxes including Reese’s Puffs, Count Chocula, and Boo-Berry. The cereal works will be juxtaposed with Warhol’s iconic Brillo Boxes and his lesser-known series of paintings for children.

In response to The Warhol’s new initiative The Pop District, KAWS will also present a monumental wooden sculpture in Pop Park, directly across from the museum and visible from its entrance space.

KAWS + Warhol is presented by

Uniqlo Lifewear

Major support provided by

Nemacolin

Jim Spencer & Michael Lin, and Kathe & Jim Patrinos.

Generous support provided by

The Fine Foundation logo

Media Sponsor

Exhibition Highlights

Screenprint of two of the same photographs, one on top of the other, of an ambulance accident with a body halfway hanging out of the back passengers side window. — Andy Warhol, *Ambulance Disaster*, 1964-65, Contribution Dia Center for the Arts, ©The Andy Warhol Foundation, Inc.

A black and white sculpture of a figure laying flat on their stomach on the floor. — KAWS, *COMPANION 2020*, 2020, © KAWS

A black and white figure sculpture with x's on their eyes carries a blue sculpture that appears to have fur with x's on their eyes and a yellow nose. — KAWS, *GONE*, 2018, © KAWS

A screenprint of a train in black with purple outlines on a yellow background. — Andy Warhol, *Train*, 1983, © The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.

Artwork of an outline of a figure in white on a black background. The figure appears to be running and has x's on their eyes. — KAWS, *M2 2000*, © KAWS, Photo Farzad Owrang

A screenprint of an electric chair in a room in black ink on a pink background. — Andy Warhol, *Little Electric Chair*, 1964-65, © The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.

A cereal box sculpture with a pink figure eating cereal and Franken Berry as the title. — KAWS and General Mills, *Franken Berry Limited Edition Cereal Box*, 2022, © KAWS, Photo Brad Bridgers

Screenprint of a red and yellow robot with green outlines on a pink background. Moon Explorer is on both the left and right side of the image going up and down. — Andy Warhol, *Moon Explorer Robot*, 1983, © The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.I

Black and white film still of a person from the neck up standing in front of a stone wall with their head tilted back and their eyes closed. — Andy Warhol, *Blow Job* (film still), 1964, © The Andy Warhol Museum, a museum of Carnegie Institute. All rights reserved.

Artwork of a figure with x's on their eyes in a large body of water. Only their head, two hands, and left arm can be seen above the water. The moon is in the background reflecting on the water. — KAWS, *TIDE*, 2020, © KAWS, Photo Farzad Owrang

Sculpture of retail packaging with the Kimpsons on the top. There are three figures at the top of the packaging with x's on their eyes and a separate piece that appears in the packaging of a closeup of two figures with x's on their eyes. — KAWS, *UNTITLED (KIMPSONS), PACKAGE PAINTING SERIES*, 2001, © KAWS, Photo Brad Bridgers

Artwork of a closeup of a figure's face with color paint all over it and x's over the eyes. Joe Kaws is in different colors in the bottom, right-hand corner. — KAWS, *UNTITLED*, 2018, © KAWS, Photo Farzad Owrang

Screen print of a white skull with a blue shadow on a pale green and cream background. — Andy Warhol, *Skull*, 1976
The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; Founding Collection, Contribution The Andy
Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.
© The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.
2002.4.30

Publication

The cover of a black hard cover book. On the cover is two white Xs in a row in the middle of the cover.

KAWS + Warhol

A never-before-seen look at the striking thematic parallels between KAWS and Andy Warhol, two of the most iconic artists of our time

As celebrated artists that draw from popular culture, KAWS and Andy Warhol are known for creating art that is approachable beyond the confines of the traditional art world. While at first glance, both artists’ works often appear celebratory and joyful, they share a number of dark common threads beneath the surface: tragedy as spectacle and meditations on death and dying. When these two bold bodies of work are juxtaposed, that connection is made explicit and powerful.

This book highlights the artistic intersection of KAWS and Warhol, featuring their takes on death and disaster, advertising, nostalgia, abstraction, skulls, and self-portraiture. Accompanying a major exhibition at The Andy Warhol Museum that will travel internationally, it presents some of the most standout and analogous works from two of the most popular artists of all time.

Foreword by Patrick Moore, with an interview by Laurie Simmons and essays by Thomas Crow and Marianne Dobner

Published by Monacelli, a Phaidon company, 2024

$69.95

Buy Now