KAWS: New Fiction is the official hardcover publication accompanying KAWS’s major 2022 exhibition at the Serpentine Galleries in London.
Published by The Monacelli Press in 2023, the book documents an ambitious exhibition that brought together physical artworks, augmented reality, and a virtual recreation of the gallery environment. The project was developed through a collaboration between KAWS, the Serpentine Galleries, digital art platform Acute Art, and Fortnite.
The publication contains 280 pages and approximately 230 illustrations, including paintings, sculptures, installation views, and documentation of augmented-reality works. It measures approximately 24.1 × 19.6 cm / 9.5 × 7.7 in and is presented in hardback format.
Texts by Daniel Birnbaum, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Bettina Korek, and Alexandra Kleeman place the exhibition within the broader development of KAWS’s practice and examine the ways his work moves between contemporary art, popular culture, digital environments, sculpture, and immersive technology.
The exhibition itself was notable for existing simultaneously in several forms: as a physical gallery presentation, through augmented-reality artworks accessible digitally, and as a virtual reconstruction available within Fortnite.
KAWS: New Fiction therefore functions not only as an exhibition catalogue but also as a document of a significant moment in the increasing overlap between contemporary art, gaming, augmented reality, and virtual exhibition spaces.
A strong publication for collectors and admirers of KAWS, contemporary art, artist monographs, exhibition catalogues, augmented reality, digital culture, and crossover projects between fine art and popular media.
Alt text: KAWS New Fiction hardcover exhibition catalogue published by The Monacelli Press, documenting the artist’s 2022 Serpentine exhibition with paintings, sculptures, and augmented-reality works.
