Sculptures by KAWS, Jeff Koons, and Adam Parker Smith Available With Dane Fine Art This Summer

Dane Fine Art’s upcoming Sunshine Sale of Modern & Contemporary Art is a nearly 1,100-lot sale that embraces the breadth of contemporary fine art. The event, scheduled for August 29, 2024, particularly highlights sculpture works by present-day masters such as KAWS, Jeff Koons, and Adam Parker Smith. 

Here are some of the top lots that caught our attention at Auction Daily. 

KAWS

An artist who bridges the style of fine art with the broad appeal of more commercial endeavors, KAWS (also known as Brian Donnelly) started his career as an animator and graffiti artist. Both mediums inspired his later work. He received an extensive education in fine art and illustration. By the late 1990s, KAWS was creating original characters that referenced and reinterpreted popular culture. Among his most famous characters is Companion, a dark figure that resembles Mickey Mouse with crossed-out eyes and bones protruding from its head. KAWS’ Companion figures are now both museum items and accessible collectibles. 

Available with Dane Fine Art this August is KAWS’ No Future Companion, a limited edition figure that is a collaboration with Japanese illustrator Hajime Sorayama (lot #4; estimate: USD 20,000 – $30,000). Sorayama is known for his futuristic depictions of women and androids who are often clad in shimmering metal. This Companion embraces Sorayama’s style with robotic arms and legs, as well as a shiny metallic surface. This piece belongs to an edition of 500 and stands just over 12 inches high. 

Jeff Koons

Another modern master sculptor is Jeff Koons; his work is also well-represented in this sale. Like KAWS, Koons also embraces popular culture in his art and toys with elements of kitsch. He first rose to fame in the 1980s with works intended to shock the art world with their embrace of consumerism and appropriation. Among his most famous projects is a series of sculptures shaped like balloon animals and executed in colored stainless steel. Preserving these ephemeral objects in a permanent, artistic form proved lucrative. Two balloon animal sculptures by Koons separately set records for the most expensive works auctioned by a living artist.

One such Balloon Dog sculpture will be offered with Dane Fine Art this August. Lot #261 is a yellow balloon dog encased in porcelain. Dating from 2015, this piece was published by the Metropolitan Museum of Contemporary Art and is signed to the rear. It has a presale estimate of $19,500 to $27,000. 

Adam Parker Smith 

American contemporary artist Adam Parker Smith embraces a certain cheekiness in his works, which often wink at the viewer or contain a joke. Smith tends to embrace unconventional techniques and new ways of looking at the world, from buying ideas from other artists to reimagining classical sculptures as trash-compacted cubes. He prefers to use ordinary found objects instead of more traditional mediums. 

This auction will feature Smith’s Shibari Heart (Black), a resin and jute piece that rests on a wood base. This 2019 work resembles an inflated heart balloon tied up with bondage ropes. It comes to auction with an estimate of $10,500 to $14,500. 

In addition to these works, the Sunshine Sale of Modern & Contemporary Art highlights prints by Julian Opie and Alex Katz, sketches by Andy Warhol and Keith Haring, and more. Find additional information about each of these works and register to place a bid in the Dane Fine Art sale on Bidsquare. For the latest auction news and a calendar of events, visit Auction Daily.