KAWS has designed a limited-edition bottle for Absolut Vodka. The ABSOLUT KAWS Artist Edition is available for pre-order now before it rolls out to select U.S. retailers for a limited time.
The front of the bottle carries KAWS' signature "XX" motif and his CHUM character. The back reproduces a painting Absolut commissioned from him, which served as the starting point for the design.
The collaboration puts KAWS in a long line of artists who have worked with the brand. Absolut's art program began in 1985, when Andy Warhol painted Absolut Warhol for the company's first art ad. Warhol then recommended Keith Haring for the next one. Between 1985 and 2004, more than 550 artists made over 850 works featuring the bottle, a collection now housed at Spritmuseum in Stockholm. Most of those pieces ran as ad artwork. KAWS' design goes on the bottle itself.
"My goal is to allow art to meet people in unexpected places," KAWS said in a statement.
KAWS, whose real name is Brian Donnelly, grew up in New Jersey and spent his teens tagging trains and billboards before his characters moved into galleries and museums. He's now based in Brooklyn and has shown work at the Brooklyn Museum, London's Serpentine Gallery, SFMOMA, and the Andy Warhol Museum, among others.
