Pop artist Brian "KAWS" Donnelly presents his first major West Coast exhibition titled "KAWS: Family" at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, but the show reveals more about marketing strategies than familial bonds. Despite promotional materials featuring sculptures of his signature eyeless characters posed for family portraits and Donnelly's own status as a married father of two, the exhibition primarily showcases the artist's journey from street graffiti to corporate collaborations.
The Brooklyn-based illustrator and sculptor has drawn comparisons to Andy Warhol for his appropriation of pop culture imagery, yet critics argue that where Warhol recontextualized popular ephemera, Donnelly's work simply attaches itself to existing brands. Unlike his British contemporary Banksy, who subverts pop culture iconography, KAWS eagerly partners with official corporate sponsors, making his brand priorities evident throughout the fourth-floor exhibition space.
Visitors encounter the interactive "Make a Friend for BFF" game upon entering, where touchscreens allow children to create playmates for the fuzzy quasi-Muppet character. Nearby, a triptych of untitled photographs documents KAWS's graffiti origins, when Donnelly adopted his artistic name simply because he liked how it appeared in spray paint. During his early career, the artist would steal subway advertisements, integrate his own characters, and replace the original ads, making his designs appear as integral parts of the imagery.
The exhibition's true theme, "Pop Culture and the Art of Appropriation," is stenciled prominently on the wall, and Donnelly makes no apologies for appropriating mainstream cultural staples. During the press preview, he proudly discussed his "Kimpsons" illustrations, which occupy an entire section and remain instantly recognizable as Matt Groening's billion-dollar creation. He recalled creating the series in Japan during the early 2000s, noting how the paintings featuring his trademark dead eyes served as the only cultural bridge between him and his Japanese hosts, explaining, "I didn't know the language, they didn't know a lot of English, but everyone knew Homer!"
Most of "KAWS: Family" functions as a tribute to Donnelly's evolution from creating unofficial fan art to securing official commissions. The "Branding and Collaboration" section features display cases showcasing his 2020 Nike line and an entire wall dedicated to his 2022 General Mills collaboration for monster cereals. The "Space" section displays his design for Kid Cudi's 2022 "Man on the Moon" vinyl box set alongside an official KAWS Moonman from the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards.
Across these commercial partnerships, minimal redesigning occurs, with familiar characters simply receiving the cloud-like KAWS head featuring puffy ears, missing mouths, and X-marked eyes. The exhibition's most compelling moments emerge when Donnelly ventures into personal territory, though these instances leave viewers wanting more substantial exploration. Paintings like "Hopeless Horizon" (2022) and "Lost Future" (2023) openly illustrate the artist's isolation during the COVID-19 shelter-in-place period of 2020, featuring the character CHUMS (KAWS's interpretation of the Michelin Man) trapped behind neon-colored prison bars.
The similarly-themed sculpture "Separated" (2021, bronze and paint) depicts the Mickey Mouse-inspired Companion huddled on the floor, crying into his hands. These few pieces deliver personal insights otherwise absent among the wall-sized boxes of Reese's Puffs from 2023 that dominate the exhibition's real estate. An Instagram video highlighting Donnelly's meticulous hand-painting process demonstrates his undeniable talent and admirable craftsmanship.
"KAWS: Family" ultimately represents less of the artist's ideas about family units and more of a hall of fame celebrating his marketplace success. While the exhibition could have meaningfully explored a street artist's transformation into a recognizable brand, it instead presents a Technicolor collection showcasing the lucrative corporate appropriation of street-level talent. The show runs from November 20 through May 3, 2026, at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, located at 151 Third Street.
