Did you watch the 2012 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and notice a slightly askew Mickey Mouse-look-alike floating around? Figure out what's behind this mysterious character, COMPANION, with a little help from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.
COMPANION is a creation of the artist KAWS, a Brooklyn-based artist and designer known for creating characters with x-ed out eyes. KAWS rose to infamy in the '90s for his graffiti and tendency to paint over bus stop ads.
KAWS' 16-foot COMPANION sculpture has seen the likes of Tokyo, Paris and New York. Get a glimpse for yourself now through May 14 at 30th Street Station (2955 Market St., Philadelphia). The preview installation is a collaboration between PAFA (Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts) and Amtrak for the KAWS Sculpture Plinth Exhibition at PAFA, opening in October.
We're still trying to figure out why this verson of COMPANION has the face-to-palm pose -- what on earth could have happened to this iconic character? It might be a good question for the artist to answer.
