Gauntlet Gallery — Complete KAWS Index
Dissected Companion Print (Black)
Work Summary & Collector Notes
A flat graphic screenprint depicting KAWS's signature Companion in his "dissected" form, rendered here in a stark black palette. The Companion — a Mickey-Mouse-derived figure with X'd-out eyes and gloved hands — is cut open to reveal a cartoonish interior of organs, bones, and a beating heart. This anatomical motif is one of KAWS's most recurring conceits, turning a beloved cartoon body into an object of vulnerability and mortality. As a print, it distills the imagery of the larger dissected vinyl and sculptural Companions into a graphic, wall-ready format prized by collectors who want the iconography at an accessible price point.
Collector notes: Edition label was not stated, and total quantity was not documented in the saved record. Edition-specific signature, numbering, and stamp details were not stated in the saved release record. Verify signing and numbering against a documented example of this edition.
Why It Matters
The Dissected Companion is arguably the most conceptually loaded image in KAWS's vocabulary. By literally cutting open his cartoon avatar, KAWS exposes the gap between cheerful pop-culture surfaces and the fragile, mortal bodies beneath — a meditation on consumer culture's hollow promises and on the artist's own emotional life. The black colorway intensifies the graphic punch, reading almost like an X-ray or a noir reduction of the figure. Within KAWS's print practice, dissected works bridge his street-art roots and his fine-art ambitions, translating a sculptural idea into a democratic, editioned object. For collectors, prints in this family are foundational: they reference the dissected vinyl toys and the monumental "4 Foot" Companions while remaining attainable. They also showcase KAWS's mastery of flat color and crisp outline, the formal language that made his work instantly legible across painting, sculpture, and merchandise. As an entry into the Dissected canon, it carries outsized recognition and cross-collector appeal.
Collector Perspective
This print appeals to collectors building a focused KAWS holding around the Companion and its dissected variants, as well as buyers who want a high-recognition image without the cost of a sculpture or painting. The black palette is graphic and architectural, suiting modern interiors and reading strongly even from a distance — it anchors a wall the way a poster of an icon does. Within a broader KAWS collection it functions as a "key image," pairing naturally with dissected vinyl figures, the 4 Foot Dissected Companion, and standard Companion prints. Condition, flatness, and color integrity drive desirability, since the black ground shows handling. It rewards collectors who value KAWS's conceptual side — mortality and anatomy — over purely decorative colorways.
Historical Context
The Dissected Companion sits at the hinge of KAWS's career, when he was moving from the graffiti and subway-ad interventions of the 1990s into the toy-and-vinyl boom of the 2000s and toward fine-art legitimacy. The Companion debuted as a vinyl figure with Bounty Hunter and Medicom, and the dissected version — peeling back the figure to expose its insides — quickly became a defining statement, restaged across toys, sculptures, and prints. This black print descends from that lineage, carrying the anatomical concept into a wall format. It reflects KAWS's broader arc from appropriating cartoon bodies toward interrogating them, a move that helped reposition him from designer-toy phenomenon to museum-collected artist whose monumental Companions now appear in public installations worldwide.
Documented Release Details
- Object type
- Editioned print or object
- Release date
- 2006
- Release-date note
- Catalog-listed release year from the saved secondary record; primary release-page confirmation remains pending.
- Series
- Companion Series
- Medium and materials
- Medium and materials were not documented in the saved record.
- Edition details
- Edition label was not stated, and total quantity was not documented in the saved record.
- Signature and marks
- Edition-specific signature, numbering, and stamp details were not stated in the saved release record. Verify signing and numbering against a documented example of this edition.
Documented History and Meaning
History note: This page treats KAWS's broader career as background context, not proof that this specific edition belongs to any single exhibition or event. Release-level facts here come from a saved secondary catalog record.
Meaning / interpretation: No per-work artist statement is recorded for this edition. Any thematic reading should be treated as interpretation of the imagery, not a documented statement of the artist's intent. This interpretive note follows the cited artist or publisher context.
Release context: The saved catalog lists 2006. It is grouped under Companion Series in the saved record.
Authentication, Presentation and Provenance
- Original presentation
- Original packaging or presentation was not documented in the release sources reviewed.
- Authentication note
- Compare the support, dimensions, edition number, and signature against a documented example of this edition. Gauntlet Gallery does not authenticate works purchased from third parties.
- Provenance note
- Edition origin is attributed in the saved record to the release source named in the saved record. That does not establish the ownership history of an individual copy: retain the original invoice, reseller or gallery paperwork, labels, correspondence, and condition photographs.
Sources and Verification
Verification status: Secondary catalog snapshot; artist-level context added
- KAWSONE — official site — KAWS studio · primary artist source · Accessed 2026-07-13 · Official artist site; career context, not an individual-edition record.
- KAWS — Wikipedia · reference encyclopedia · Accessed 2026-07-13 · General artist-level biographical and career reference.
- KAWS (Q3194367) — Wikidata · reference knowledge base · Accessed 2026-07-13 · Structured identifier used for the artist across catalog metadata.
Market Context
- Estimated value. The median of recorded public sale prices for this piece, matched by title and colorway. We use the median (not the average) because it resists outliers.
- Min / max sale. The lowest and highest individual recorded sale prices; the range shows dispersion, not a guaranteed band.
- Recorded comps. The number of independent comparable sales; reliability rises with sample size (1–2 sales are indicative only).
- Liquidity & sales volume. Our liquidity rating reflects sales velocity — the number of recorded comparable sales and how recent the latest sale is. More frequent and more recent sales rate as more liquid (Highly Liquid → Liquid → Moderate → Thin → Very Thin); a piece with no recorded public sales is Extremely Rare.
- Indicative estimate. Where recorded sales are very limited (1–2), the figure is treated as indicative only — not a firm market value; a single sale can move it materially.
- Estimate confidence. A traffic-light read on how well the data supports the estimate: green high, yellow medium, red low / indicative.
- Data source & currency. Compiled from recorded public marketplace and auction sales of US$200 or more, in US dollars, as of the latest recorded sale shown. Coverage is not exhaustive.
- Not financial or investment advice. For collector reference only — not an appraisal, offer, or guarantee of resale value. Art is volatile and illiquid; do your own research. Use is subject to our Terms & Conditions.
FAQ
What is the "dissected" Companion?
It is KAWS's Companion figure shown cut open to reveal a cartoon interior of organs and bones, a recurring motif about vulnerability behind a pop-culture surface.
Why is it printed in black?
The black palette gives the image a stark, X-ray-like graphic intensity and is one of several colorways KAWS has used for dissected works.
Is this a print or a sculpture?
This is a flat graphic screenprint; related sculptural and vinyl versions of the dissected Companion also exist.
How does it relate to other Companion works?
It shares the figure and X'd-out eyes of all Companion works but uniquely exposes the interior, linking it to dissected vinyl toys and the 4 Foot Dissected Companion.
Related KAWS Works
