Blog: www.artkive.co.uk

Whilst reflecting over this past semester and planning for the blog, I knew I wanted to incorporate myself as much as possible into this work. I still have a lot to plan and work through, and I have researched different approaches I’d like to potentially take with this assignment. This reflective essay will discuss my thoughts in regard to my potential approach towards the blog, why I’ve selected the subject matter behind my posts, what I believe I have gained from the creation of this work and how my knowledge for contemporary art has expanded. 

A long-term goal for myself has been to create my own art website, incorporating art news, promoting small artists and businesses, discussing art history, and showcasing Liverpool and North West’s (hopefully leading further after time) effect on the art world overall. I took this assignment as an opportunity to stop procrastinating and actually create this space, under the name Artkive. My approach towards this assignment will be a practice towards developing my own writing style and creating potential future writing opportunities for myself. I will also continue to use this website after this semester.

I’m still currently planning what subject matter to choose for my other blog posts. I have visited different contemporary art exhibitions in the past like the Kaws exhibition in Barcelona, Rong Bao in the Saatchi Gallery but I’m undecided on whether to do exhibitions from within Liverpool (especially contemporary works featured within FACT Liverpool) or exhibitions I’ve travelled to visit.

Kaws played a huge part in the development of my art passion, I had a very brief knowledge on art and had more of an interest in fashion, then I came across Kaws work (directly one of his fashion collaborations) and I researched his other collaborations with Snoopy, Louis Vuitton, etc and it really opened my eyes to contemporary art and how different it was compared to the well-known artists of the world (Van Gogh, Monet, etc). After following Kaws for a few years, I attended an exhibition in Barcelona based on his work and that passion fully began for me. I have found this again within this course, researching more contemporary artists and even creating work myself because I feel after seeing more Avant Garde contemporary artists, the art world is more open to different approaches towards art compared to earlier eras.

I decided to use my love for Kaws as an opening towards an in-depth look into his importance in the contemporary art space, the exhibition I attended in Barcelona and how he has changed viewpoints in regards to what is considered high class art.

Kaws (Brain Donnelly) has revolutionised contemporary art with his use of different creative pathways through pop culture, street art and fine art. His work pushes the traditional boundaries of how art is perceived amongst the masses, Kaws has created a relatable way to make art more accessible to the everyday person. 

“What’s amazing is the way that people connect to these characters, in sort of alarmingly emotional ways.” – Brain Donnelly (Kaws)

Even through conservation practices, a lot of Kaws work is vinyl and fiberglass which opens a new door into conservation practices for longevity of his figures, also to keep the remaining quality intact. 

In 2022, I travelled to Barcelona to the Moco Museum and it was my first surreal art experience, knowing so much about a piece then visiting it in person. As mentioned above and in previous blog posts, the exhibition really made me feel that art is accessible for all and is achievable for all. It was also such a relatable expression of art, since then I’ve continued to follow Brain through his fashion ventures, his later figures and huge sculpture works. 

In conclusion, I am still in the beginning part of creating my blog and even my own personal journey with contemporary art, it has opened my eyes to seeing art through a current day lens rather than through a old master’s viewpoint. This blog has also opened my eyes to my own creative ideas through writing and potentially other forms of media that I am yet to explore. I am excited to continue with the assignment to see what my end result will be and how I can progress it in the future with Artkive. An after further analyses into my own journey into the art world through Kaws, this blog has made me realise how much contemporary art has changed me.

Words: 745

Bibliography

artsy, 2025. artsy-editorial-6-reasons-kaws-seriously. [Online] 
Available at: https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-6-reasons-kaws-seriously

hypeart, n.d. alejo-benedetti-curator-interview-kaws-family-crystal-bridges-museum-of-american-art. [Online] 
Available at: https://hypeart.com/2025/3/alejo-benedetti-curator-interview-kaws-family-crystal-bridges-museum-of-american-art
[Accessed 2025].

moco museum, 2025. kaws-barcelona/2125. [Online] 
Available at: https://mocomuseum.com/exhibitions/barcelona/kaws-barcelona/2125