Gauntlet Gallery
What is KAWS’s piece called “Running Chum (3)”?
Summary
Running Chum (3) is a screenprint rendering of KAWS's Chum character in mid-stride, the puffy, Michelin-Man-derived figure whose body is studded with the artist's signature crossbones and whose face carries the trademark X-ed-out eyes. Chum descends from the Kimpsons/Michelin lineage of KAWS's reworked pop mascots and appears here as a flat, bold graphic with the energetic posture that the 'Running' designation implies. As one panel in a numbered set of color variations, it pairs a recognizable cartoon silhouette with KAWS's reductive palette and clean vector-like edges, the type of limited screenprint edition that translates his vinyl and painting iconography into an accessible wall work.
Why It Matters
Chum is one of KAWS's foundational characters, second only to Companion in how clearly it embodies his strategy of hijacking a beloved corporate mascot — in this case the Michelin Man — and reissuing it with crossbones, skull motifs, and dead X eyes that drain the cheer out of advertising imagery. The Running Chum prints matter because they distill that gesture into a dynamic, instantly legible figure, and because the numbered color series invites collectors to assemble sets, a behavior KAWS deliberately cultivates across his editions. Owning a Running Chum places a collector inside the lineage that connects KAWS's late-1990s subway interventions and bus-shelter ad disruptions to his blue-chip auction presence. The work also documents the X-eyes-and-skull vocabulary that has become shorthand for an entire era of street-rooted contemporary art, making it both a decorative object and a marker of KAWS's role in pushing graffiti sensibilities into the gallery and the global toy-and-print market.
Collector Perspective
Running Chum (3) appeals to collectors who already own or covet Companion editions and want the more aggressive, mascot-forward Chum in their holdings. Its bold flat graphic and confident stride make it an easy hang in modern, design-forward interiors, and the strong color separation reads well from across a room. Within a KAWS collection it functions as a complement rather than a centerpiece: it deepens a set, especially for buyers chasing the numbered Running Chum variations as a group, and it signals fluency in KAWS's character roster beyond the ubiquitous Companion. Print-focused and younger collectors gravitate to works like this as an accessible entry into the artist at a friendlier price point than sculpture.
Historical Context
Chum emerges from KAWS's habit of appropriating corporate cartoon mascots, sitting alongside his reworkings of figures like SpongeBob, the Smurfs, and the Michelin Man during the period when he was transitioning from illicit subway and ad-takeover work toward studio editions, vinyl toys, and gallery painting. The Running Chum prints belong to his mature print practice, when KAWS had established a reliable visual grammar — crossbones, X eyes, swollen pop bodies — and was issuing screenprint editions that paralleled his sculptures and canvases. They reflect the moment his street-derived language was fully absorbed into a collectible, market-driven output, bridging the graffiti roots and the monumental, blue-chip stature he would later achieve with Companion balloons and large-scale public sculpture.
FAQ
Who is the Chum character?
Chum is one of KAWS's core characters, derived from the Michelin Man and reworked with his signature crossbones and X-ed-out eyes. It recurs across his prints, paintings, and vinyl figures.
Is Running Chum (3) part of a series?
Yes. It is one of a numbered set of Running Chum prints issued in different colorways, which collectors often pursue as a group.
What does 'Running' refer to?
It describes the figure's dynamic mid-stride pose, distinguishing this composition from static Chum portraits.
Is this an original or an edition?
It is a limited screenprint edition, consistent with KAWS's accessible print practice. We do not list a specific edition size unless it can be verified.
Related Works
About the Artist
KAWS is the working name of Brian Donnelly (b. 1974, Jersey City). He began in the 1990s subverting bus-shelter and phone-booth advertisements, then built a singular visual language around the Companion — a Mickey-Mouse-descended figure with crossed-out X eyes — alongside Chum, BFF, Accomplice and a cast of appropriated cartoon characters. His practice spans paintings, screenprints, vinyl and bronze sculpture, and the monumental KAWS:Holiday installations shown in cities worldwide. His work is held by the Brooklyn Museum, the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, and major private collections, and he is among the most collected artists of his generation.