The installation on the High Museum of Art’s piazza of a 16-foot-tall, 5,500-pound sculpture by Brooklyn-based artist Brian Donnelly, who works under the name KAWS, had to be accelerated this week due to Wednesday’s driving rains.
But given that “Companion,” which goes on view officially today, is made of painted fiberglass over a metal structure heavy enough to demand a crane, it couldn’t be rushed. Pictured in the middle photo wearing all black, KAWS creates pieces that employ techniques of, and borrows notes of inspiration from, pop art, toy-making, graffiti, product design and sculpture. “Companion’s” body may recall Mickey Mouse, but KAWS says he was thinking of Rodin’s famed “The Thinker” in terms of the sculpture’s pose. The work is a harbinger of a bigger show by the artist opening Feb. 18 at the High: “KAWS: Down Time.” It will include a 22-foot-high, site-specific mural he will paint in the Wieland Pavilion’s Margaretta Taylor Lobby.
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