BE@RBRICK KAWS TENSION 1000%

BE@RBRICK KAWS TENSION 1000% is a collectible MEDICOM TOY figure associated with KAWS TOKYO FIRST. The familiar BE@RBRICK shape becomes a surface for multicoloured graphics: fragments continue from the head across the torso, arms and legs. There is no separate painted face explaining the image. Attention rests on colour, intersecting lines and the way a flat drawing changes across a three-dimensional form.

What was KAWS TOKYO FIRST?

The exhibition ran from 16 July to 11 October 2021 at Mori Arts Center Gallery in Tokyo’s Roppongi district. Around 150 works, including paintings, sculptures and designer objects, traced KAWS’s development from early experiments to major projects. It also included his private collection and a recreation of his studio.

Its title repeated that of the artist’s Japanese debut at Parco Gallery twenty years earlier, returning to an important point in his career. The exhibition showed how one visual language can exist within a gallery, public space and a collectible object. TENSION belongs to this intersection of art and design.

TENSION’s connection with the exhibition

MEDICOM TOY included BE@RBRICK KAWS TENSION 1000% among the products released for KAWS TOKYO FIRST. A 100% & 400% set was also released, but this card concerns the large 1000% version. The designation describes the BE@RBRICK format, not the number of examples in the edition. Different sizes and their specifications should not be confused.

Colour and form

Blue, red, yellow, pink and green accents form a dense composition. The photographs show how the graphics wrap around the rounded ears, head and arms. Glossy highlights emphasise volume, while dark sections add contrast. The large format can be read from a distance as a complete coloured silhouette and close up as individual lines and planes.

Edition details

Artist: KAWS
Manufacturer: MEDICOM TOY
Name: BE@RBRICK KAWS TENSION
Format: 1000%
Release year: 2021
Height: 70 cm
Related exhibition: KAWS TOKYO FIRST, Tokyo
Status: In stock

The box of this example bears a MEDICOM TOY holographic sticker. Printed names and signatures within the figure’s design are not handwritten autographs.

Collecting and interior display

TENSION can join a KAWS collection or be a gift for someone interested in contemporary art. The large figure needs a dedicated place where its silhouette and colours remain visible. Against a neutral background it becomes a main accent; beside other works it offers a comparison between the artist’s abstract graphics and his characters.

Other KAWS works

Explore the KAWS collection at ArtComburo and CHUM Black to compare different approaches to form. Learn more on the KAWS reference material.

Explore BE@RBRICK 1000% and BE@RBRICK Andy Warhol × Jean-Michel Basquiat #3 1000%. The exhibition is documented by Mori Arts Center Gallery.