KAWS Takes Bal Harbour
BAL HARBOUR, There are exhibitions you visit, and then there are exhibitions you experience. KAWS at Opera gallery, Bal Harbour, firmly falls into the latter category, and it is absolutely not one to miss.
On view from December 18, 2025, through January 15, 2026, the solo exhibition brings together paintings, sculptures, and screen prints that trace KAWS’ unmistakable visual language and cultural impact. More than a showcase of recognizable characters, the exhibition offers a rare opportunity to engage with the emotional depth and conceptual rigor that have made KAWS one of the most influential artists of our time.
Born from the intersection of street culture, pop iconography, and fine art, KAWS has long challenged the divide between “high” and “low” culture. His figures — marked by altered proportions, expressive postures, and the now-iconic XXed-out eyes-feel instantly familiar, yet quietly confrontational. They tap into shared memory, childhood nostalgia, and consumer culture, while simultaneously questioning how we assign meaning to the images that surround us.
The Bal Harbour presentation spans works created between 2010 and 2020, featuring standout pieces from KAWS’ most celebrated bodies of work, including Holiday, Chum, The News, and Companion. Among the highlights is Companion (Black Colorway) (2010), a monumental sculpture that has become synonymous with the artist’s practice. With its crossed-out eyes and skull-and-crossbones head, the figure balances vulnerability and strength, playful on the surface, yet emotionally resonant on a deeper level.
Equally compelling is Joe Kaws (2015), a stylized reinterpretation of Snoopy that underscores KAWS’ ongoing dialogue with childhood icons and collective memory. The exhibition also features Chum (KCC5) (2016), an acrylic on canvas measuring 83.9 x 68.1 inches, which transforms a familiar commercial mascot into a bold, playful, and subtly subversive commentary on branding, nostalgia, and pop culture excess.
“KAWS’ characters have become part of our shared cultural language,” says Alexandre Sarfati, Director of Opera Gallery Bal Harbour. “This exhibition brings together some of his most recognizable and meaningful works, offering visitors the chance to experience their impact up close.”
What makes this show especially compelling is its timing. As institutional attention around KAWS continues to grow, with KAWS + Warhol on view at The Andy Warhol Museum and KAWS: FAMILY set to debut at San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Bal Harbour exhibition feels both timely and essential. It offers South Florida audiences access to museum-caliber work in an intimate gallery setting, allowing for a closer, more personal engagement with the art.
Opera Gallery’s Bal Harbour space provides the ideal backdrop for this moment. The clean, refined environment allows the work to speak for itself, inviting viewers to slow down and take in the details — the brushwork, the scale, the emotional weight behind figures that may appear playful at first glance.
Simply put, this is not just a KAWS exhibition; it’s a cultural moment. Whether you’re a longtime collector, a pop culture enthusiast, or someone newly curious about contemporary art, this show delivers on every level. Familiar yet thought-provoking, accessible yet layered, KAWS at Opera Gallery Bal Harbour is a must-see this season, and one you’ll be thinking about long after you leave the gallery.
Photo Credit : O P E R A G A L L E R Y