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    “The Vault” Collection by Vans x Javier Calleja

    “For me, drawing on paper is the best! With drawings, you can go to the end of the world and back on the same day,” Javier Calleja poetically underlines the importance of this rudimentary technique to his creative process. Globally recognised for his character-based paintings, sculptures, and figures, Malaga-based artist always goes back to the very essence of his artistic practice and his collaboration with VANS is one of such efforts.Throughout his career, Calleja has been regularly experimenting with techniques, materials, and scales, continuously curious about finding fresh ways to implement his visions into new surroundings. With an ongoing interest in urban fashion as well as driven about making his art more approachable and seen, his VANS capsule was an intuitive continuation of his exploration. For this project, he designed patterns for some of his personal favourite sneakers and footwear fusing the brand’s iconic designs with his iconic visuals.Using the OG collection as the blank canvas, the artists applied his big-eyed characters and textual elements, facilitating the new sphere for them to exist in and communicate with the world. “For me, the audience is as important as the art and I feel like the painting without people, is nothing,” Calleja concludes, revealing the necessity for such projects for him and hiswork.The Vault by Vans x Javier Calleja collection will be available beginning February 5, 2022, at select Vault by Vans retailers. For more information, and where to purchase, please visit The Drop List, a calendar of Vans’ most exclusive product drops.Check out below for more photos of the collaboration. More

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    in Street Art

    “Santa Teresa” by Martin Ron in La Pampa, Argentina

    Argentine artist Martin Ron just worked on a new mural in Colonia Santa Teresa, La Pampa, Argentina. Evoking the community’s tradition and origins, the work “Santa Teresa” was painted to celebrate the 100th year of the town.In the mural, the hands are the protagonists – symbol of rural work and tribute to “LOS BOLSEROS” that have a lot to do with the foundation and identity of Santa Teresa community.Always looking for new ideas that defeat traditional art, Martin explores with new colors, combined styles and new concepts that make his art unique, leaving marks that can directly say who the author is.Born in the province of Buenos Aires, the walls of the streets of Tres de Febrero were the starting point for thinking and developing his art. And then, different neighborhoods of the city of Buenos Aires, other provinces of Argentina, and countries such as England, Spain, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Turkey, Qatar, Russia, Belgium, among others, have also seen his art.Martin Ron is constantly improving his style, he surprises passers-by with immense works of art on the wall of a building that transports him to a world of fantasy. Martín paints elements of real life and his paintings highlight aspects of the life around him, changing the dirty and gray landscapes into better places.Take a look below for more photos of the mural. More

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    in Exhibitions

    In Pictures: See Work From the Late Art Star Matthew Wong’s First Museum Show, Dedicated to His Mesmerizing Blue Paintings

    Matthew Wong was a voracious painter. After trying his hand at photography, poetry, and even Chinese scroll painting, the young artist began working with oil paint in 2013. Entirely self-taught, he created more than 1,000 works before his death in 2019, at the age of 35.
    At the time of Wong’s death, he was building a formidable profile in the art world, but had never been the subject of a museum exhibition. That changes with “Blue View” at the Art Gallery of Ontario in the artist’s native Canada. The show (on through April 18, 2022) presents 40 of the roughly 60 works in Wong’s “Blue Series,” which the artist worked on from 2017 until his death.
    The images are a symphony of indigo, turquoise, azure, and inky-black blues, all depicting quiet scenes that the artist said were gleaned from a trip he took with his mother to Sicily. There are long winding roads and intimate glimpses into darkened rooms. The compositions bring to mind Erik Satie’s Trois Gymnopédies—melancholy but also serene.
    Like the variations of Satie’s minimalist piano pieces, Wong’s pictures are variations on a theme. The artist once said they are meant to “activate nostalgia, both personal and collective.” The presence of lone individuals, almost always without identifying features and rendered in blurred outline, underscores this effect.
    In an essay for the show’s catalogue, former Guggenheim curator Nancy Spector describes Wong’s work as “Fauvist at heart with an overlay of pointillist patterning.”
    His paintings, she writes, “are remarkable for the brilliance of their palettes.” Even when defined by their blueness, they manage to incorporate every shade and are punctuated at times with lilac, silvery white, vermillion, and peach.
    Although Wong’s work has drawn comparisons to artists as varied as Edouard Vuillard and Yayoi Kusama, he was able to build a mood in paint that was entirely his own.
    See more images from “Matthew Wong: Blue View,” below. “Matthew Wong: Blue View” is on view at the Art Gallery of Ontario through April 18, 2022. 
    Matthew Wong, Meanwhile… (2018).© 2019 Matthew Wong Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS) New York. Image courtesy of Karma, New York.
    Matthew Wong, A Dream (2019).© 2019 Matthew Wong Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS) New York. Image courtesy of Karma, New York.
    Matthew Wong, Autumn Nocturne (2018).© 2019 Matthew Wong Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS) New York. Image courtesy of Karma, New York.
    Matthew Wong, Blue Night (2018). © 2019 Matthew Wong Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS) New York. Image courtesy of Karma, New York.
    Matthew Wong, Untitled (2018). © 2019 Matthew Wong Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS) New York. Image courtesy of Karma, New York.
    Matthew Wong, Starry Night (2019). © 2019 Matthew Wong Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS) New York. Image courtesy of Karma, New York.
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    in Exhibitions

    Here Are the 63 Artists and Collectives Participating in the Closely Watched 2022 Edition of the Whitney Biennial

    The Whitney Biennial, one of the most closely watched—and fiercely debated—exhibitions in America, has revealed the lineup for its next edition, which opens in April. The 63-strong list of artists and collectives chosen by curators David Breslin and Adrienne Edwards encompasses three generations and suggests that the first pandemic-era iteration of the show will have a decidedly conceptual and interdisciplinary bent.
    In addition to the participants, the curators have also revealed the show’s title: “Quiet as It’s Kept.” The colloquial term—invoked in the work of novelist Toni Morrison, jazz drummer Max Roach, and artist David Hammons—usually precedes a statement that is traditionally left unsaid.
    The show, originally due to open in 2021, was pushed back one year. It will now run from April 6 through September 5, 2022.
    Coco Fusco, still from Your Eyes Will Be An Empty Word (2021). Image courtesy the artist and Alexander Gray Associates, New York.
    The show will continue its tradition of questioning what it means to be an “American artist,” placing special emphasis on creators from Mexico, specifically Ciudad Juárez and Tijuana, First Nations artists in Canada, and artists born outside of North America.
    While the Whitney Biennial has sometimes served to introduce a slate of new talent, this edition is decidedly intergenerational. The oldest artist is Puerto Rican choreographer Awilda Sterling-Duprey, born in 1946; the youngest is Mexican artist Andrew Roberts, born in 1995, whose work draws on technology used in war and the entertainment industry.
    This year’s biennial will also integrate performance and film into the galleries, placing it on equal footing with the rest of the work rather than siloing it in separate programs. The curators promise that the show will evolve throughout its run, and that its two main floors are designed to act as counterpoints: one, a contained, dark labyrinth; the other, open and light-filled.
    Whitney Curators Adrienne Edwards and David Breslin. Photo by Bryan Derballa.
    “We began planning for this exhibition, originally slated to open in 2021, almost a year before the 2020 election, before the pandemic and shutdown with their reeling effects, before the uprisings demanding racial justice and before the questioning of institutions and their structures,” the curators said in a statement. “While many of these underlying conditions are not new, their overlapping, intensity, and sheer ubiquity created a context in which past, present, and future folded into one another. We’ve organized the exhibition to reflect these precarious and improvised times.”
    Here is the full list of artists participating:
    Lisa AlvaradoBorn 1982 in San Antonio, TXLives in Chicago, IL
    Harold AncartBorn 1980 in Brussels, BelgiumLives in New York, NY
    Mónica ArreolaBorn 1976 in Tijuana, MexicoLives in Tijuana, Mexico
    Emily BarkerBorn 1992 in San Diego, CALives in Los Angeles, CA
    Yto BarradaBorn 1971 in Paris, FranceLives in Brooklyn, NY, and Tangier, Morocco
    Rebecca BelmoreBorn 1960 in Upsala, CanadaLives in Vancouver, CanadaAnishinaabe
    Jonathan BergerBorn 1980 in New York, NYLives in New York, NY, and Glover, VT
    Nayland BlakeBorn 1960 in New York, NYLives in Brooklyn and Queens, NY
    Cassandra PressFounded 2016 by Kandis Williams
    Theresa Hak Kyung ChaBorn 1951 in Busan, South KoreaDied 1982 in New York, NY
    Raven ChaconBorn 1977 in Fort Defiance, Navajo NationLives in Albuquerque, NMDiné
    Leidy ChurchmanBorn 1979 in Villanova, PALives in New York, NY, and West Tremont, ME
    Tony CokesBorn 1956 in Richmond, VALives in Providence, RI
    Jacky ConnollyBorn 1990 in New York, NYLives in Brooklyn, NY
    Matt ConnorsBorn 1973 in Chicago, ILLives in New York, NY, and Los Angeles, CA
    Alex Da CorteBorn 1980 in Camden, NJLives in Philadelphia, PA
    Aria DeanBorn 1993 in Los Angeles, CALives in New York, NY
    Danielle DeanBorn 1982 in Huntsville, ALLives in Los Angeles and San Diego, CA
    Jane DicksonBorn 1952 in Chicago, ILLives in New York, NY
    Buck EllisonBorn 1987 in San Francisco, CALives in Los Angeles, CA
    Alia FaridBorn 1985 in Kuwait City, KuwaitLives in San Juan, PR, and Kuwait City, Kuwait
    Coco FuscoBorn 1960 in New York, NYLives in Brooklyn, NY
    Ellen GallagherBorn 1965 in Providence, RILives in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and Brooklyn, NY
    A Gathering of the Tribes /Steve CannonFounded 1991Steve Cannon: Born 1935 in New Orleans, LADied 2019 in New York, NY
    Cy GavinBorn 1985 in Pittsburgh, PALives in New York State
    Adam GordonBorn 1986 in Minneapolis, MNLives in Jersey City, NJ
    Renée GreenBorn 1959 in Cleveland, OHLives in Somerville, MA, and New York, NY
    Pao Houa HerBorn 1982 in LaosLives in Blaine, MN
    EJ HillBorn 1985 in Los Angeles, CALives in Los Angeles, CA
    Alfredo JaarBorn 1956 in Santiago, ChileLives in New York, NY
    Rindon Johnson Born 1990 in San Francisco, CALives in Berlin, Germany
    Ivy Kwan Arce and Julie TolentinoIvy Kwan Arce: Born 1965 in Salinas, CALives in New York, NYJulie Tolentino: Born 1964 in San Francisco, CALives in Joshua Tree, CA
    Ralph LemonBorn 1952 in Cincinnati, OHLives in Brooklyn, NY
    Duane LinklaterBorn 1976 in Treaty 9 Territory (Northern Ontario, Canada)Lives in North Bay, Canada (Robinson Huron Treaty Territory)Omaskêko Ininiwak
    James LittleBorn 1952 in Memphis, TNLives in New York, NY
    Rick LoweBorn 1961 in rural AlabamaLives in Houston, TX
    Daniel Joseph MartinezBorn 1957 in Los Angeles, CALives in Los Angeles, CA, and Paris, France
    Dave McKenzieBorn 1977 in Kingston, JamaicaLives in Brooklyn, NY
    Rodney McMillianBorn 1969 in Columbia, SCLives in Los Angeles, CA
    Na MiraBorn 1982 in Lawrence, KS, on Kickapoo, Osage, Kansa, and Sioux landsLives in Los Angeles, CA, on Tongva, Gabrielino, Kizh, and Chumash lands
    Alejandro “Luperca” MoralesBorn 1990 in Ciudad Juárez, MexicoLives in Monterrey, Mexico
    Moved by the MotionFounded 2016 by Wu Tsang and Tosh Basco
    Terence NanceBorn 1982 in Dallas, TXLives in America
    Woody De OthelloBorn 1991 in Miami, FLLives in Oakland, CA
    Adam PendletonBorn 1984 in Richmond, VALives in New York, NY
    N. H. PritchardBorn 1939 in New York, NYDied 1996 in eastern Pennsylvania
    Lucy RavenBorn 1977 in Tucson, AZLives in New York, NY
    Charles RayBorn 1953 in Chicago, ILLives in Los Angeles, CA
    Jason RhoadesBorn 1965 in Newcastle, CADied 2006 in Los Angeles, CA
    Andrew RobertsBorn 1995 in Tijuana, MexicoLives in Mexico City and Tijuana, Mexico
    Guadalupe RosalesBorn 1980 in Redwood City, CALives in Los Angeles, CA
    Veronica RyanBorn 1956 in Plymouth, MontserratLives in London, United Kingdom, and New York, NY
    Rose SalaneBorn 1992 in New York, NYLives in Queens, NY
    Michael E. SmithBorn 1977 in Detroit, MILives in Providence, RI
    Sable Elyse SmithBorn 1986 in Los Angeles, CALives in New York, NY
    Awilda Sterling-DupreyBorn 1947 in San Juan, PRLives in San Juan, PR
    Rayyane TabetBorn 1983 in Beirut, LebanonLives in Beirut, Lebanon, and San Francisco, CA
    Denyse ThomasosBorn 1964 in Port of Spain, Trinidad and TobagoDied 2012 in New York, NY
    Trinh T. Minh-haBorn in Hanoi, VietnamLives in Berkeley, CA
    WangShuiBorn 1986 in USALives in New York, NY
    Eric WesleyBorn 1973 in Los Angeles, CALives in Los Angeles, CA
    Dyani White HawkBorn 1976 in Madison, WILives in Minneapolis, MNSičangu Lakota
    Kandis WilliamsBorn 1985 in Baltimore, MDLives in Los Angeles, CA and Brooklyn, NY
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    in Exhibitions

    ‘You Literally Got Me Into KAWS Fam’: What Game-Playing Teens Think About the Artist’s New Project on Fortnite

    London’s art critics have, almost unanimously, given the KAWS exhibition, which opened recently at the Serpentine Galleries, a thumbs down. But a much younger crowd, which has been viewing the show on the videogame Fortnite, has a very different opinion.
    “New Fiction” is the artist’s first major solo show in the UK capital, and in addition to the presentation of paintings and sculptures in London, visitors across the globe can see the exhibition online through the massive multiplayer game Fortnite—an experiment for all the parties involved. There are also virtual versions of the artist’s famous crossed-eye “Companion” sculpture that can be viewed via Acute Art’s augmented reality app.
    But the technological twists have apparently failed to please the critics. The Evening Standard’s Ben Luke said the show is “unspeakably awful” and “soul-crushingly boring,” giving it just one star. “I have no idea why the Serpentine has got involved with this,” bemoaned Eddy Frankel, who also gave the show one star in Time Out. “I want to be immersed in KAWS about as much as I want to be immersed in a vat of pus […] It has no concepts, no emotions, no beauty and absolutely no point.” And The Telegraph’s Alastair Smart calls the show a “lost KAWS.”
    On the other hand, Fortnite players who choose to roam around the virtual grounds of the Serpentine wearing KAWS-themed skins, appear to be having a great time in the show, jumping around and chasing after each other in the gallery, which wouldn’t be allowed in reality. Some have even said they loved the works, a stark contrast to Smart’s prediction in his review that it would be “hard to see any player having a meaningful experience in the would-be exhibition.”

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    “I would say it’s pretty awesome,” Max Kipiniak, a 17-year-old Brooklyn-based high school student, told Artnet News. Kipiniak said he was familiar with KAWS and owned clothes from the artist’s collaboration with Japanese brand Uniqlo. He also found the partnership between an online video game and an artist impressive and he hoped to see more of it.
    “The art itself in the gallery was not extremely impressive to me. I guess I prefer to see art in person rather than online, but it was still cool to see his sculptures and art pieces come to life in a video game,” he continued. “I respect artists like KAWS for being open-minded enough to seek out unique ways to publicize their art to new audiences.”
    John Olusetire, a 25-year-old software developer based in Nigeria who does not regularly visit art galleries, said “the creative hub and the art (both paintings and sculptures) were cool.” He added that the Fortnite show “was easy to navigate. There’s a 2D map you can access,” and he pointed to a game-specific feature that particularly won him over: “I loved the maze, figuring it out was fun.”
    “Overall [it was] a good experience,” said a 16-year-old gamer from India, who asked to remain anonymous. “It’s good to see art displayed inside a game like Fortnite. I have never been to any actual art museums in person, now with the pandemic situation, I am happy to see it in the form of a creative hub.”

    Serpentine has said that the show, curated by Daniel Birnbaum, artistic director of the VR and AR production company Acute Art, could reach some 400 million Fortnite players. Organizers have declined to reveal exactly how many players have checked into the virtual show since it debuted a week ago, but it is certainly discussed online. Some players have written on Reddit saying that the show was cool. On Twitter, @GAMMAVERSE_ said: “I am in awe.” @OgEcomiMemelord replied: “You literally got me into kaws fam!” And @Masa_LJwG said: “I enjoyed the exhibition a lot! Thank you from Japan.”
    For those unable to join the game, there is no lack of players’ tour videos streaming on YouTube. “So beautiful,” commented Youtuber ShiKago773, who visited the virtual exhibition in a pink KAWS-themed skin. In the video, ShiKago773’s character is seen standing in front of nearly each single work and examining each of them.
    “I have these [sculptures as] keychains. I love them. That’s badass,” ShiKago773 adds. “There are so many of [the artworks], so many feelings. Wow. Oh my gosh, Fortnite, thank you. I love it.”
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    In Pictures: See Stunning Works by the Late Fashion Designer Thierry Mugler, Who Dressed Kim, Cardi, and Gaga

    Thierry Mugler, the French fashion designer who married camp, couture, steampunk, science fiction, and S&M, all with his trademark sensuality, died on Sunday, January 23, age 73.
    His death was announced by House of Mugler, his eponymous brand.
    After declining invitations for several retrospectives, Mugler agreed to a 2019 show, “Thierry Mugler, Couturissime,” at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. The traveling exhibition is now on view at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris through April.
    Anniversaire des 20 ans collection, Haute couture fall/winter 1995-1996 © Patrice Stable, courtesy of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs.
    When it first opened in Montreal in 2019, it coincided with the designer’s return to public life.
    At that year’s Grammy awards, rapper Cardi B donned the Mugler’s “Venus” gown (from his 1995/1996 collection), with her pale pink torso surrounded by petals, the rest of the gown encased in black.
    At that same year’s Met Gala, Kim Kardashian, who often mined the Mugler archives, appeared on the red carpet in the first new Mugler-made wear in 20 years: a one-of-a-kind latex corset dress dripping in crystals that took eight months to complete.
    The exhibition traces Mugler’s career and myriad roles within the art and fashion worlds. (Before he founded his brand in 1974, he created stage costumes for Macbeth, directed films and a music video, published books of photography, and was even a dancer.)
    Les Insectes collection, haute couture spring/summer 1997. © Patrice Stable, courtesy of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs.
    Organized, like an opera, into multiple acts, the show touches on the milestones of his career: from his heyday in the 1980s (when his trademark “Glamazon” design, with its exaggerated silhouette and torpedo-like bustier, defined pop culture); to his more fantastical collections of the 1990s, when he drew inspiration from insects, birds, nymphs, and, in one case, cyborgs.
    In addition to Cardi B and Kim Kardashian, Mugler found a new audience with pop stars including Lady Gaga and Beyoncé, who hired him to design the looks for her 2009 I Am… world tour.
    French fashion designer Thierry Mugler. (Photo: Britta Pedersen/DPA/AFP via Getty Images.)
    “Fashion is still a great tool, because it’s a three-dimensional art,” he told Women’s Wear Daily in 2019. “It’s the most feral form of art, in the best sense of the word, meaning that it touches on the human, and that’s interesting.”
    See images from the exhibition below.
    ‘Thierry Mugler : Couturissime’ exhibition at the Musee des Arts Decoratifs in Paris. (Photo by CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT/AFP via Getty Images)
    ‘Thierry Mugler : Couturissime’ exhibition at the Musee des Arts Decoratifs in Paris. (Photo by CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT/AFP via Getty Images)
    ‘Thierry Mugler : Couturissime’ exhibition at the Musee des Arts Decoratifs in Paris. (Photo by CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT/AFP via Getty Images)
    ‘Thierry Mugler : Couturissime’ exhibition at the Musee des Arts Decoratifs in Paris. (Photo by CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT/AFP via Getty Images)
    ‘Thierry Mugler : Couturissime’ exhibition at the Musee des Arts Decoratifs in Paris. (Photo by CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT/AFP via Getty Images)
    ‘Thierry Mugler : Couturissime’ exhibition at the Musee des Arts Decoratifs in Paris. (Photo by CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT/AFP via Getty Images)
    ‘Thierry Mugler : Couturissime’ exhibition at the Musee des Arts Decoratifs in Paris. (Photo by CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT/AFP via Getty Images)
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    Artist Retrospective: Kobra

    Brazilian street artist Eduardo Kobra has become one of the most recognizable and prominent muralists of our time. Kobra is known for utilizing bold kaleidoscopic colors and bold geometric compositions to complete large-scale portraits.As an artist, Kobra draws inspiration both from society and human beings as individuals; in particular, human behavior. Protesting such topics as the mistreatment of animals, war, and poverty, it is important that each work of art communicates a message of peace.“Genial Is Riding a Bike” in Sao Paulo, Brazil, 2015Historical figures and musical masterminds continue to be Eduardo Kobra’s favorite subjects. He has done portraits of Tupac Shakur, John Lennon, Bob Dylan, Notorious B.I.G., Ray Charles, Kurt Cobain, and Jim Morrison. Albert Einstein, Basquiat, Abraham Lincoln, the Dalai Lama, Andy Warhol, and Anne Frank  are just a few of the others who Kobra has honored on walls.“Etnias” in Rio de Janiero, Brazil, 2016With works on five continents, he currently holds the record for the largest graffiti mural in the world. The mural is painted on a vast 190-metre-long wall in the city’s formerly run-down port area, Praça Mauá, measuring almost 3,000 square metres. The mural is entitled “etnias” or “ethnicities” in English and used approximately 100 gallons of white paint, 1,500 litres of coloured paint, and at least 3,500 cans of spray paint.Scroll down below to view our selection of Kobra’s best works over the years.Mural in World Trade Center Campus, New York, 2021Mural in World Trade Center Campus, New York, 2021“Let Me Be Myself” in Amsterdam, Netherlands, 2016Using his signature kaleidoscope-like style, Kobra worked several days to create this huge and beautiful portrait of Anna Frank, a German-born diarist and writer.“Fight For Street Art” featuring Basquiat and Warhol in New York City, USA, 2014“The Bedouin” in Dubai, UAE, 2015Brazilian street artist painted this 26 meters high by 11 meters wide building which is now featuring one of signature kaleidoscopic portraits. The Bedouin are an Arab ethnocultural group, descended from nomads who have historically inhabited the Arabian and Syrian Deserts.Portrait of Alfred Nobel for in Sweden, 2014“Arthur Rubinstein” in Lodz, Poland, 2014The Brazilian artist painted this tribute to Arthur Rubinstein using his signature style. Arthur Rubinstein, KBE was a Polish American classical pianist. He received international acclaim for his performances of the music written by a variety of composers and many regard him as the greatest Chopin interpreter of his time.Portrait of Polynesian women in Papeete, Tahiti, 2015Portrait of Vivian Maier In Chicago, USA, 2017Portrait of Albert Einstein in Los Angeles, USA, 2013The painting is located on La Brea Avenue, at the same location where he had previously painted the Mount Rushmore piece back in 2012. Kobra traveled to North America after being invited by Mr. Brainwash, the polemic french street artist who was the protagonist of Banksy’s documentary “Exit through the gift shop”.The artwork, which is 82 ft height and 26 ft width, shows a contemplative portrait of Albert Einstein through the colourful visual language of Kobra, which comprises a mixture of colours and geometric forms along with an hyper realistic feel.For more stunning works from talented muralist, check out our #Kobra page! More

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    in Exhibitions

    ‘It’s Just a Different Way of Reaching People’: KAWS on Why He Teamed Up With ‘Fortnite’ to Bring His Work Into the Virtual World

    At first glance, KAWS’s new show at London’s Serpentine Galleries appears to be a retrospective. It features more than 20 paintings and sculptures, all on loan from private collections. But there’s a twist: “New Fiction” is also a virtual exhibition, viewable in ultra high-definition via the online game Fortnite.
    By teaming up with Epic Games’s Fortnite, one of the world’s largest online video games with more than 400 million registered accounts, the artist has transformed the exhibition housed in the Serpentine North Gallery into a creative hub within the game. Players can dress up as pink KAWS “Companion” skeletons (the artist’s trademark figure) and roam around the exhibition, as well as the fantasy grounds outside.
    “It feels very natural,” the Brooklyn-based artist told Artnet News, “seeing my character walking around the exhibition in Fortnite. Aesthetically, it seems like it fits right with the work I’ve been making.”
    The hub is now live and the Serpentine exhibition is open through February 27.
    “This is the first time that we are doing something as ambitious as this,” the show’s curator, Daniel Birnbaum, told media at the exhibition’s preview. “The project will reach bigger audiences, bigger than the Venice Biennale. This is a new kind of local project that has a global reach.”
    Birnbaum is artistic director of the VR and AR production company Acute Art, which also created an augmented reality experience for the show. Users of Acute Art’s smartphone app can view KAWS’s virtual sculptures inside and outside of the gallery, and share pictures and videos on social media.
    American artist KAWS, real name Brian Donnelly, poses with an artwork titled SEEING. Photo by TOLGA AKMEN/AFP via Getty Images.
    Because the pandemic made frequent travel between New York and London impossible, KAWS had to work from home using a foam model of the show. The gaming technicians then used pictures of the model, and of the gallery, to imagine how the show and game could come together.
    “Once it’s set for the game, they have tons of testing and where they see if they can crash it, just try to see if it is a functional game,” KAWS said. “It’s been a lot to get there. To work with Fortnite, to have something game-ready, you need to be so far in advance.”

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    KAWS, it turns out, was already a Fortnite player. After he saw other artists, such as the rapper Travis Scott, stage events in the gaming virtual reality, he saw the potential for his own work. “I understood the scope of games outside gaming. The creative community is pretty incredible, an eye-opener.”
    This is not the first time KAWS has ventured into the virtual realm. In 2020, his project “COMPANION (EXPANDED)” brought an augmented-reality version of his figure to 11 cities around the world. Viewers could view the virtual sculpture floating in the air at specific locations via the Acute Art app. And the artist’s 2019-2020 exhibition “Companionship in the Age of Loneliness” at the National Gallery of Victoria in Australia hosted a complete virtual walkthrough of the show, which is still accessible today.
    A member of a staff uses the Acute Art app to display an (AR) augmented reality artwork “COMPANION (EXPANDED)” by KAWS. Photo by Tolga Akmen/AFP via Getty Images.
    Hans Ulrich Obrist, the artistic director of Serpentine, said “NEW FICTION” is a “unique project that tests how Serpentine can enter the multiverse.” The gallery has been experimenting with technologies in recent years, initiating projects that are bridging the gap between art and pop culture, such as a collaboration with K-pop sensation BTS.
    “The idea is to connect the bubbles of different sectors. And in future, artists will be making their own games,” Obrist said.
    KAWS has made it a goal to reach as many people as possible. “Even when I was putting work on the streets, I’ve been thinking about communications and how to reach people in new, unexpected ways,” the artist said. “That’s why I’m so interested in doing collaborations with fashion. It’s just a different way of reaching people in a new environment.”
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