Seeing what an artist sees in another artiss feels like a pivotal insight into the creative process. KAWS for years has worn his collection on his sleeve, his Instgram a library of references of outsider art gems, graffiti history and high brow fine art finds. He has a keen eye, a wide breadth of interests, and for some who don't follow art everyday, his account is both an entry point and a historical document of decades and decades of art history: especially the great works of comics, illustration, lowbrow and graff. Needless to say, The Way I See It: Selections from the KAWS Collection, on view now at The Drawing Center in NYC, featuring 350 artworks chosen by KAWS from his vast personal collection of over 3,000 works on paper by some 500 artists, is a must-see, a showstopper, the kind of museum show you will be talking about for years to come. And yes, the hyperbole is necessary.
The highlights are everywhere: Joe Coleman, Jane Dickson, Harvey Pekar, Robert Crumb, Rick Griffin, Helen Rae, Peter Saul, Ana Benaroya, Julie Curtiss, George Condo, Martin Wong, Dana Schutz, Anton van Dalen... it goes on and on. Some parts of the exhibition are set like KAWS's studio office, some just installations unto themselves. What is great to see in many cases is multiple works from each artists, with the Rae and van Dalen areas being substantial. KAWS calls living with these works to be "energy, food," and the fact that these are all works on paper also gets to the genesis of the artist's ideas, which the show illuminates intimacy in every corner.
The hallmarks of KAWS's career, graffiti, is seen here, with notebooks, sketches and full works on paper showcasing some of the greatest graffiti names of the 1970s, 80s and 90s, with DONDI, LEE and HAZE really shown with strong works. That is what makes the paper works so essential: graffiti begins in a sketchbook, getting the piece just right before taking it to the street, and you can tell KAWS hasn't forgot where he came from. —Evan Pricco