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    King of Cartoons

    Fort Worth Modern plays with animated art in major KAWS retrospective

    Kendall Morgan
    kendall Morgan
    Oct 21, 2016 | 9:25 am

    Snoopy, the Simpsons, SpongeBob, Mickey Mouse — you’ve seen these characters countless times. But you’ve never seen them the way Brooklyn artist KAWS interprets them: mashed into sculptures, paintings, and collectible figurines.

    With the October 20 opening of “KAWS: Where the End Starts” at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, now you have the chance.

    Merging fine art and merchandising as adeptly as it subverts our Saturday morning heroes, the exhibit includes more than 100 works in all. KAWS developed a relationship with the museum and curator Andrea Karnes after participating in 2011’s “Focus” exhibition, making the Modern an ideal location to survey 20 years of pop-off-the-canvas paintings, larger-than-life sculptures, and collectible figurines.

    “We knew we wanted to bring him back for a bigger project,” Karnes says. “When I realized he had been working for 20 years, we thought it was a good time. Getting to know him and his work, and seeing how he works in his studio, helped me understand he’s really an important voice among contemporary art, and we felt we needed to give him a bigger platform.”

    Growing up in Jersey City in the late ​’80s and early ​’90s, the artist formerly known as Brian Donnelly rode into Manhattan to skateboard and graffiti the subway trains with a moniker he has called “this weird fake identity.”

    Trading work with other graffiti artists around the globe opened his eyes to the possibilities of his chosen form of art, and it wasn’t long before he was stealing fashion ads out of bus stops and phone booths, painting in his own graphics before sneakily slipping them back inside.

    Photographers responded to his style and began seeking him out for collaborations in the pages of glossy titles. By 1999, a Japanese toy company called Bounty Hunter produced KAWS’ first collectible figurine of his character Companion, allowing the artist to begin thinking in three dimensions.

    He eventually opened his (now defunct) menswear and toy store in Tokyo called OriginalFake in the mid-2000s, but it took the rarified art world another couple of years to catch up to the phenomenon known as KAWS.

    As the artist has said, “When I did OriginalFake, I was so frustrated with people positing this idea of being a commercial artist or a fine artist. I wanted to be honest with the stuff I wanted to make. I stopped keeping track of what the possibilities are and just focused on what I was doing.

    “Slowly, in a roundabout way, it came to working with galleries and now museums.”

    Karnes, who has included a large selection of the figurines in the survey, feels the work is equally important in paint, wood, bronze, or vinyl. “He wanted to make sculpture, but couldn’t afford to, so he made toys first — and his sculpture looks just like the toys,” she says. “He’s used the same kind of recurring motifs. It’s the collapsing of things for him. He doesn’t have a problem entering the institution. He wanted to get there.”

    And no casual viewer should make the mistake of calling KAWS a “street artist” in 2016. Instead, both KAWS and Karnes cite Claes Oldenburg, who paired cheap merchandise with serious works in his The Store project, as the artist’s spiritual ancestor.

    “Oldenburg had his store in 1961, and in the 1980s Keith Haring had his Pop Shop in New York that sold his paintings in T-shirt and button form, so people could afford it,” Karnes says. “There’s a strong historical precedent that started with pop art, and that’s the tradition I see KAWS coming out of.”

    His instantly recognizable characters have certainly earned their spot in the annals of pop. KAWS creatures like Chum, Companion, and Accomplice may have evolved from the world of animation, but the emotions they represent — and inspire — have a resonance all their own.

    “To me, we respond to them both because they’re adorable and because they’re conveying something that’s so human,” says Karnes, who is reluctant to pick as favorite as it would be “like picking a favorite child.”

    “They’re cartoonish and fun, but then there’s this serious side. They’re trying to make their way through the world like all of us. It’s relatable.”

    ---

    “KAWS: Where the End Starts” runs through January 22, 2017.

    Companion (Passing Through), KAWS, fiberglass, metal structure, and paint, 2010

    KAWS
      
    Photo courtesy of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth
    Companion (Passing Through), KAWS, fiberglass, metal structure, and paint, 2010
    Photo: Heath Braun
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    Football for Footlights

    Dallas Cowboys player debuts on Broadway before heading to Texas

    Lindsey Wilson
    Jun 16, 2025 | 1:57 pm
    Solomon Thomas MJ The Musical
    Photo by Andy Henderson
    Solomon Thomas onstage at the Neil Simon Theatre in New York City.

    Before he hits the field for the Dallas Cowboys’ 2025 season, NFL veteran Solomon Thomas took a final bow in New York City — not at MetLife Stadium, but on Broadway.

    Earlier this year, Thomas signed a two-year, $8 million contract with the Cowboys after three seasons with the New York Jets. But before heading to Oxnard, California, for training camp with the 'Boys in July, he gave the Big Apple a dramatic farewell befitting a true Broadway fan.

    On June 13, Thomas made his Broadway debut in MJ the Musical, appearing for one night only in a special cameo role. The hit show, which celebrates the life and career of Michael Jackson, has long been a favorite of Thomas', who’s seen it six times.

    “I cannot think of a better way to celebrate my time in New York than by making my Broadway debut!” Thomas shared in a statement ahead of the performance. “I am so grateful to MJ for making this dream come true and for the support over the past few years. It’s truly an honor to be able to witness the greatness of these performers. I hope to see everyone at the Neil Simon Theatre on June 13!”

    Solomon Thomas outside MJ The MusicalSolomon Thomas outside "MJ The Musical" at the Neil Simon Theatre.Photo by Andy Henderson

    Thomas famously brought nearly a dozen teammates to see MJ, a moment featured in an episode of HBO’s Hard Knocks. He has also served as a CBS theater correspondent and presented at the 2024 Tony Awards.

    Thomas' special cameo is reminiscent of when Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson made her Broadway debut in late 2024 with a walk-on role in the hit jukebox musical & Juliet at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre.

    “Solly has been such a great supporter and friend of Broadway and our show,” said MJ producer Lia Vollack in the statement. “We couldn’t think of a better way to thank him for his time in New York: giving him his Broadway debut!”

    MJ the Musical opened in 2021 and focuses on the creative process behind Michael Jackson’s 1992 Dangerous World Tour. With a book by two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage and direction and choreography by Tony Award winner Christopher Wheeldon, the show blends dazzling spectacle with emotional depth. It earned four 2022 Tony Awards, including Best Choreography, Lighting Design, and Sound Design in a Musical.

    The current Broadway cast stars Elijah Rhea Johnson, who made his Broadway debut in the show in April 2023. Johnson was involved in the development of the role as “Middle Michael” and succeeded original star Myles Frost, who made history in 2022 as the youngest performer ever to win the Tony for Best Leading Actor in a Musical.

    The national tour of MJ recently stopped at Fort Worth’s Bass Hall in May as part of the 2024–25 Broadway at the Bass season. Other productions are currently running in London, Hamburg, and Sydney.

    Solomon Thomas MJ The MusicalThomas in his Broadway dressing room.Photo by Andy Henderson

    Solomon Thomas MJ The Musical
      

    Photo by Andy Henderson

    Solomon Thomas onstage at the Neil Simon Theatre in New York City.

    While Thomas is known now for both football and footlights, his off-the-field work continues to make a difference. He co-founded the nonprofit The Defensive Line with his parents in honor of his sister Ella, who died by suicide in 2018. Now in his ninth NFL season, the three-time Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee works to end the epidemic of youth suicide, especially among young people of color, by promoting open, honest conversations around mental health.

    As Thomas trades curtain calls for play calls, there’s no doubt he’ll bring the same heart and presence to the Cowboys locker room that he brought to the Broadway stage. And here's hoping the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders don't mind sharing the spotlight with Broadway's newest star.

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