Donnelly was born in 1974 in Jersey City, New Jersey, where he attended St. Anthony High School. As a teenager, Donnelly created a tag for himself, KAWS (based on the way the letters looked—the word, in fact, has n… See more

Kaws's acrylic paintings and sculpture have many repeating images, all meant to be universally understood, surpassing languages and cultures. Some of his characters date back to the beginning of his career in th… See more

Since his first vinyl toy with the Japanese clothing brand Bounty Hunter in 1999, he has collaborated on toys with other Japanese companies: Nigo for A Bathing Ape (Bape), Medicom Toy, and Santastic!. Since the b… See more

Comic book artist Bill Morrison felt "ripped off" by Kaws's 2005 work The Kaws Album because the work was simply a "traced interpretation of my Simpsons Yellow Album" (released in 1998 and signed by Matt Groening), … See more