Kaws opens Friends and Neighbors at Space K Seoul
Published on 08/19/2026 at 12:24 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWS
Kaws is in Seoul with Friends and Neighbors. Space K Seoul says the exhibition is the artist's first museum solo show in Korea and runs from July 23, 2026 to December 27, 2026, with 20 new works on view. Space K Seoul listing
What opens in Seoul
The Seoul show is the strongest current peg because it is concrete, dated, and institutionally framed. The official listing gives the venue, the run, and the scope of the presentation in one place.
The exhibition centers Kaws's signature figures and the tension between pop language and museum display. That balance has defined much of his public reception since the 1990s.
Why this show matters
Max Hetzler's artist page also places Friends and Neighbors at Space K Seoul from July 23 to December 27, 2026. It describes the project as KAWS's first institutional exhibition in Korea and notes the artist talk at the Art Institute of Chicago on August 15, 2026. Galerie Max Hetzler news page
That framing matters for collectors and institutions alike. It shows how Kaws still moves between street-derived imagery, gallery circulation, and museum-scale visibility.
More news and background on Kaws
Track current exhibitions, museum appearances, and market news around the artist in one place.
The work core
Kaws works across painting, sculpture, graphics, product design, and public projects. The Space K Seoul text traces that range back to his graffiti and advertising interventions in New Jersey and New York in the early to mid-1990s.
His best-known figures, including Companion, CHUM, and BFF, turn cartoon syntax into a repeatable visual system. That system is what lets the work travel cleanly from street context to museum wall.
Where Kaws stands now
Kaws currently has Friends and Neighbors on view at Space K Seoul through December 27, 2026.
Kaws at a glance
- Artist: Kaws
- Medium / Genre: Painting, sculpture, graphics, public projects
- Place(s) of practice: Brooklyn, New York
- Active since: 1990s
- Key work groups: Companion, CHUM, BFF
- Current/last exhibition: Friends and Neighbors, Space K Seoul, July 23, 2026 - December 27, 2026
- Major collections: Albertina, Vienna
- Next date: December 27, 2026, Space K Seoul
Frequently asked questions about Kaws
Where can readers see Kaws in Seoul right now?
Kaws is on view at Space K Seoul with Friends and Neighbors. The official listing gives the run as July 23, 2026 to December 27, 2026.
How many new works are in the Seoul show?
The Space K Seoul listing says the exhibition includes 20 new works, among them large-scale paintings and sculptures.
What does Kaws do beyond painting?
Space K Seoul describes his practice as spanning painting, sculpture, graphics, product design, and public projects, rooted in street interventions from the early 1990s.
This article was produced with a.i. support and editorially reviewed. All statements without guarantee; auction results, exhibition dates and awards may change at short notice.
