Interview

MAGUIRE: How did you first get involved with making toys?

KAWS: I was always really into the pop artists and the editions they would make with Gemini G.E.L. I just didn’t think I’d meet anyone who would actually ask me to do a sculpture. But in ’97, I went to Tokyo and started developing a relationship with some guys there—making stuff with different companies. The opportunity came up to make a toy. There was a company called Bounty Hunter that was making some of the first toys that were a little bit different. Before that, my idea of a toy was, like, Kenner or Hasbro. But they were making small runs of 500 toys. As soon as I saw them, I thought, These are like those Gemini editions. It’s just that people’s perception of a toy is different. I had to figure out a way of seeing my work in 3-D. My project opened up. I did rotation drawings, and they came back with a sculpture that I would adjust.

MAGUIRE: Do you see a toy and a sculpture as roughly the same thing?

KAWS: The material and scale are different, that’s all. I’ve been doing bronze sculptures where I auto- body-paint them different colors. Those materials are traditional. They are within the history of fine art. But, in my mind, it’s the same dimensional process. I remember I took the toys to the New Museum to sell them on consignment. And Colette in Paris sold some for me. I took that money and produced my next toy. Then I started my own website in 2002 and sold directly to customers. That gave me enough money so I could continue making toys.

MAGUIRE: You were giving yourself the freedom not to follow the traditional route to a fine-art career but instead chose to cut your own path. Seems bold.

KAWS: I guess my goal has been just to figure out how to get through life making stuff.

MAGUIRE: You have your own store in Tokyo, right?

KAWS: Yes. We have accounts with a lot of different places, but we have one flagship there. I was doing a lot of different projects in Japan in the late ’90s. There was a company called Hectic and then Undercover, which invited me to design a clothing line. And Nigo at A Bathing Ape asked me to do clothes. A lot of friends at the time said to me, “Why are you wasting so much energy in Japan? It’s a throwaway.” They thought of Japan as a place where people could make some quick money without losing credit, very Lost in Translation–style. But when I went, I met these guys around my age who were just killing it. They were working hard and making amazing stuff. To me that was where it was happening. Then it suddenly started creeping into the U.S. I think that had a lot to do with musicians like Pharrell really getting into it and spreading the word.

MAGUIRE: And eventually Pharrell started collecting your work.

KAWS: Yes. That’s through Nigo. Nigo is one of my biggest supporters. The only paintings in his house in Tokyo are mine. Aside from my paintings, what he really collects is Bentleys. He has crazy cars. His house is out of control. Do you know that series of package paintings that I did? That was because I saw that these guys in Japan were collecting toys. I had friends that were spending $3,000 on a Star Wars prototype figure. They weren’t collecting art, they were collecting toys. So I did those package paintings where I mass-produced the packaging around the painting, but the painting itself was done individually. That was my way of bridging the gap between those two worlds. Because I realized that these guys are absolute connoisseurs of the stuff they collect. They can look at a toy and say, “Oh, this is a ’76. It came out in three versions.” It occurred to me that that kind of obsessive collecting isn’t any different than art.

MAGUIRE: How many package paintings did you do the first time around?

KAWS: About 40. Before that I really was just painting over ads. But then when Nigo started giving me commissions, I started doing really different large-scale paintings—like the Kimpsons series.

MAGUIRE: Yes, the Kimpsons. And what do you call the other characters?

KAWS: The Kurfs. Which is Smurfs. I like the Simpsons because they are such an instant read. You could be in a different country and go, “D’oh!” and everybody would know exactly what you’re talking about. I thought that was amazing. It’s also such an American cartoon.

MAGUIRE: What about SpongeBob? Where does he fit in?

KAWS: I started doing SpongeBob paintings for Pharrell. Then I started doing smaller paintings, which got much more abstract. And SpongeBob was something I wanted to do because graphically I love the shapes. But honestly, when I’m painting SpongeBob, I’m not thinking, Oh, I loved this episode. Honestly, I’ve never even watched it.

MAGUIRE: Did you think you’d finally get the attention of the art world?

KAWS: Art is its own peculiar little world. It was only in late 2008 that I really started to focus on a body of work for an actual show. My first one was
at Emmanuel Perrotin in Miami. Then I did a show at Gering & López in New York. And then with Honor Fraser in L.A. in February 2009. I went from no shows to a show every two months. When I did the store, I loved designing the space. So now I really love designing the big show I’m having at the Aldrich.

MAGUIRE: You’ve had a lot of great support. How much of your success has been about sticking to your own vision and how much has it come from certain people saying, “Go ahead, take that step”?

KAWS: I’ve been really lucky to be able to find people who could understand my interests and give it a chance. Years back, when I talked to some people about doing shows, they came in and saw the package paintings and my toys and said, “This is very commercial.” I think they didn’t understand that it’s not like I make these toys for the money. The toys are actually part of the work. It’s what I want to do. No matter how things go in the gallery world, I’m still going to want to make product.

MAGUIRE: Is there an artist who particularly influenced you?

KAWS: I think the pop artists like Oldenburg and [Tom] Wesselmann. Then there were artists like Murakami, who really opened up a lot of doors on acceptance and crossover projects. That made what I was doing a bit easier to translate. And definitely Jeff Koons. I love his work. I appreciate his perfectionist mentality. It’s so over the top.

MAGUIRE: Yes, audacious and beautiful.

KAWS: I did this weird show in 2000 at an uptown gallery, and Koons came and introduced my work to Dakis [Joannou]. Dakis bought two paintings. I was just like, “Holy shit. I made it! This is it!” And then I didn’t show again for eight years.

Tobey Maguire is a Los Angeles–based actor. His next film is the dark comedy The Details.

Check out KAWS's official website to shop and read his blog.