XYGZ: LA///FIRST LOOK: KAWS’ “THE LONG WAY HOME” AT HONOR FRASER GALLERY

Shepard and Amanda Fairey roll out the west coast welcome wagon for KAWS…

KAWS‘ anxiously anticipated new show “The Long Way Home,” opened its doors to an absolutely massive crowd at HONOR FRASER gallery in LA last nite, with a queue that wrapped entirely around the block (and then some) for the duration of the frenzied two-hour opening. KAWS’ incredibly well behaved legion of faithful followers did their best to make the Brooklyn-based artist feel welcome in his first west coast solo exhibition that featured new paintings (the largest of which went to collector and Supertouch buddy Lance Armstrong), sculptures, a 20″ solid bronze Chum figure and a new series of “Kurfs” and “Kawsbob” package paintings that were all spoken for well before the opening festivities kicked off. The evening’s attending “A-list” included Everlast, Todd James, Robert & Suzanne Williams, Lupe Fiasco, Rosson Crow, Eric Elms, Miguel de la Barracuda, Shepard & Amanda Fairey, Scott Campbell, actor & Iron Man II screenwriter Justin Theroux, Cassette Playa’s Carrie Mundane, LAMJC’s Michael Dupouy, ANP Quarterly’s Brendan Fowler, legendary Pop artist Kenny Scharf, and the incredible Chrome Hearts/Vice “Dont’s” column guy with the crusty egg whites in his spiked hair (see below). Of course, a lot of KAWS’ less savvy enthusiasts didn’t quite understand that a proper art opening is not the place to ask an artist to sign your entire toy collection carried along in plastic grocery bags and the message boards will no doubt be ablaze this morning with unwarranted hate mail from a wave of unsatisfied eBay flippers (along with the 200 or so fans who couldn’t get into the show because of mandatory time & fire marshal capacity constraints). A 600+ collector waiting list for the show’s 18 paintings, however, proved testament to the pure heat of KAWS’ unfulfilled demand in the art market and a huge story in the day’s LA Times was just icing on the cake. HAVE A LOOK (and tune in for opening photos tonite):

The queue an hour before show time…

The style council: LAMJC’s Thibault Choay, Michael Dupouy, and 12 Bar clothing’s Nick Jackson prove that the English and French can get along. Sort of…