A new KAWS solo exhibition titled KAWS: Spoke Too Soon is scheduled to open in New York from November 5 to December 11, 2021. It is another brand new exhibition in the U.S. following his solo exhibition KAWS: What Party held in the Brooklyn Museum in February of this year. It will be the fourth of KAWS' solo exhibition in collaboration with the Skarstedt Gallery, showcasing a whole new series of paintings and sculptures. Earlier this year, KAWS held his first large-scale special exhibition KAWS Tokyo First at the Mori Arts Center Gallery in Tokyo, followed by KAWS: Holiday, which toured in Seoul, Taipei, Hong Kong, Mount Fuji, Virginia Beach, the Space, and Bristol, UK, before launching a new wave of promotional films for the world exhibition tour with Singapore as the next destination!

Every year, KAWS organizes his solo exhibitions around the world in major art institutions or galleries. His work Don't Sink originates from his exhibition KAWS: The Nature of Need held in 2012 as the first exhibition at the opening of Galerie Perrotin in Hong Kong. Looking back at his works during that time, KAWS appeared as one of the budding new generation of street artists. He excels in creating the overall ambience in an exhibition, often showcasing long strips of paintings to establish a unique impression for the event. Many people liked the works of KAWS during that period, when lines and colors were the focus of his works.

His iconic element "XX" has been extensively used and transformed, reformulated in each subsequent artwork. He relies on a magnificent language of imagery to imbue new elements into figurative art with bold styles and playful characters, which is the main reason his works are fascinating and memorable to the viewers. To completely integrate with the overall visual presentation of The Nature of Need, the exhibition included 50 sets of uniquely-cut long canvas strips, to illustrate the series of artistic concepts created by KAWS. In contrast, three other groups of unusual works were set up at the exhibition venue. In addition to the famed Hands of Death , and classic figure Chum, the round shaped Don't Sink served as a spatial harmonizer. The work revealed the borrowing and decomposition of the SpongeBob SquarePants image by KAWS, where the use of neon yellow and vibrant blue enhanced the sense of saturation in the painting, which also resembled the color and texture of industrial products. The importance of the work within the group was how it broke free from the limitation of a long-striped work, presenting an exhibition with diversity and attention-grabbing painting styles that continued the multi-color style of previous spatial reorganization.

The "XX" symbols have become the mark of KAWS' work, appearing on all of his favorite trendy culture or animated cartoon characters. Rehashed by KAWS, classic cartoon figures such as Mickey Mouse, The Smurfs, The Simpsons, SpongeBob SquarePants, and Snoopy have accompanied a generation of children growing up. KAWS deconstructed these images of classic cartoons and transformed them into even more abstract artistic formats, becoming new images that integrate the artistic vocabularies of KAWS. Within the round canvas of Don't Sink, the image of SpongeBob SquarePants can still be distinguished. This image originates from the 2008 KAWSBOB exhibit at the Galerie Perrotin in Miami Beach. Just like previous works by KAWS, that series includes all the well-known images, aiming to create art that exceeds language and culture, that is also easy to understand.

Similarly, KAWSBOB is also the favorite image or symbol of KAWS. By combining the XX eyes unique to KAWS, what is known as SpongeBob SquarePants turns into KAWSBOB. The large and round composition of Don't Sink consists of a small circle surrounded by a bigger circle. The offcenter focus is on one of the round eyes of SpongeBob SquarePants. The application of gray color on a large area lowers the foundation color tone, forming a contrast with the neon color. The three red dots break the stillness, becoming part of the abstract painting with geometric aesthetics in combination with the eyes and the sponge pores in the overall composition of the round canvas.