Introduced in 2002 by KAWS, Accomplice represents one of the most intelligent deviations from the artist’s foundational Companion figure. Rather than a simple variation, it functions as a conceptual expansion—introducing a new character that deepens the emotional and symbolic range of KAWS’ universe.

Where Companion operates as a melancholic archetype, Accomplice is more ambiguous, more psychologically internalized. It is not simply sad or reflective—it is complicit, passive, and quietly aware.

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Introduction

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At first glance, Accomplice retains the essential vocabulary of KAWS: a rounded cartoon body, oversized gloved hands, and the iconic crossed-out eyes. However, the defining intervention lies in the elongated rabbit ears, which radically transform the figure’s silhouette.

These ears introduce verticality and tension, contrasting with the otherwise grounded, almost inert posture. The body remains slightly slouched, the arms hanging loosely, reinforcing a sense of withdrawal. The figure does not engage with the viewer; it exists in a suspended emotional state.

The rabbit motif carries layered references—childhood innocence, pop culture, and consumer iconography—but in KAWS’ hands, it becomes destabilized. The figure feels familiar, yet emotionally inaccessible. The title Accomplice sharpens this reading: it suggests awareness without action, presence without responsibility.

2002 Vinyl Editions: Pink and Black Variations

The original 2002 release, produced in an edition of 1,000, belongs to the early wave of KAWS’ collaboration with Japanese toy manufacturers, a crucial moment in the rise of artist-designed collectibles. The two colorways versions, pink and black, operate almost as psychological opposites.

The pink version introduces a deceptive softness. Its pastel tone, combined with white gloves and a white belly, evokes childhood and tenderness. Yet this visual sweetness is contradicted by the figure’s withdrawn posture and vacant expression, creating a subtle tension between comfort and unease. The black version, by contrast, eliminates all narrative distraction. Monochromatic and dense, it emphasizes form and volume. The figure becomes more sculptural, more severe—its emotional tone shifts toward something quieter, almost funerary.

Bronze Edition (2006): From Toy to Sculpture

In 2006, Accomplice undergoes a decisive transformation with the introduction of a bronze version, produced in a highly limited edition of only 10 (plus 2 artist’s proofs). Here, the work leaves the realm of collectible design and firmly enters that of contemporary sculpture. The shift in material is critical: bronze brings weight, permanence, and historical legitimacy. The surface becomes reflective, the object more enduring, more anchored.

Equally important is the change in gesture. In this version, the figure covers its eyes with both hands. This is not a minor variation—it fundamentally alters the meaning of the work. The passive withdrawal of the original becomes an active refusal to see. The figure now embodies a “see-no-evil” stance, directly reinforcing the idea of complicity. It is no longer simply disengaged; it is choosing blindness. The reflective surface often captures the viewer, subtly implicating them within this dynamic.

Monumental Accomplice: Scale and Public Presence

The monumental versions of Accomplice, including large-scale pink sculptures reaching approximately 3 meters (edition of 3), represent the ultimate expansion of the character. At this scale, the figure shifts from object to environment. The elongated ears become architectural elements, and the body—though enlarged—retains its slouched, vulnerable posture. This creates a striking paradox: the work is physically imposing, yet emotionally fragile.

The use of pink at this scale is particularly effective. What reads as soft and playful in small format becomes dissonant when monumental. The viewer is confronted with a large, almost imposing presence that refuses the traditional codes of monumentality—there is no heroism, no triumph, only quiet introspection. Installed in public or institutional contexts, the monumental Accomplice operates as both spectacle and critique. It is immediately recognizable, accessible, yet deeply subdued in tone.

Across its different iterations, vinyl, bronze, and monumental, Accomplice reveals a rare consistency in conceptual intent paired with a sophisticated evolution in form. It is a work about presence without action, about witnessing without intervention. Where Companion expresses emotion outwardly, Accomplice internalizes it. It is quieter, more restrained, and ultimately more unsettling. Within KAWS’ broader oeuvre, Accomplice stands as a pivotal figure—not the most iconic, perhaps, but among the most intellectually resolved. It bridges the worlds of design, sculpture, and public art, while offering a subtle yet incisive commentary on contemporary detachment. In a cultural landscape defined by constant visibility, Accomplice suggests something more uncomfortable: that seeing is not the same as acting—and that silence, too, is a form of participation.

 

 

 

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ACCOMPLICE, 2002

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ACCOMPLICE (Pink/Black)

The complete set of two works
Medium: Painted cast vinyl
Year: 2002
Dimensions: 23x7x6 cm (9 x 2-3/4 x 2-3/8 inches)
Edition: 1000, unnumbered
Produced by Medicom Toy and OriginalFake, Tokyo

Stamped ‘MEDICOM TOY MADE IN CHINA © KAWS..02’ on the underside

 

 

 

 

Auction Results

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Phillips online: 30 July 2020
Estimated: GBP 2,500 – 3,500
GBP 17,500 / USD 22,275
AUCTION RECORD FOR ACCOMPLICE (PINK & BLACK)

KAWS
(i) ACCOMPLICE (PINK VERSION); (ii) ACCOMPLICE (BLACK VERSION), 2022
(i-ii) painted vinyl, with original Medicom packaging
Each stamped ‘MEDICOM TOY MADE IN CHINA © KAWS..02’ on the underside
(i) This work is number 531 from an edition of 1000
(ii) This work is number 166 from an edition of 1000
Fabricated by Medicom Toy, Japan

Heritage Auctions: 7 November 2018
Estimated: USD 6,000 – 8,000
USD 17,500

KAWS (b. 1974)
Accomplice, set of two , 2002
Painted cast vinyl
Edition: 393/1000 (Pink)
Edition: 266/500 (Black)
Each box signed and dated in silver ink, with an original drawing by KAWS
Each stamped on the underside of the feet ‘MEDICOM TOY / MADE IN CHINA ‘ and ‘©KAWS..02’
Produced by Medicom and OriginalFake, Tokyo

 

 

 

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ACCOMPLICE (Pink), 2002

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ACCOMPLICE (Pink)

Medium: Painted cast vinyl
Year: 2002
Dimensions: 23x7x6 cm (9 x 2-3/4 x 2-3/8 inches)
Edition: 1000
Produced by Medicom Toy and OriginalFake, Tokyo

Stamped ‘MEDICOM TOY MADE IN CHINA © KAWS..02’ on the underside

 

 

 

Auction Results

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Heritage Auctions: 3 December 2025
USD 625

KAWS (b. 1974)
Accomplice (Pink), 2002
Painted cast vinyl
Stamped on underside of feet
Produced by Medicom Toy and OriginalFake, Tokyo

Tate Ward Auctions: 25 June 2025
Estimated: GBP 800 – 1,200
GBP 1,625 / USD 2,215

KAWS (American 1974-)
‘Accomplice (Pink)’, 2002
Limited edition painted cast vinyl figure
Stamped to the underside of the feet
Numbered from an edition of 1000 to the presentation box
Produced by Medicom Toy and OriginalFake, Tokyo

Heritage Auctions: 22 May 2025
USD 1,125

KAWS (b. 1974)
Accomplice (Pink), 2002
Painted cast vinyl
Stamped on underside of feet
Produced by Medicom Toy, Tokyo

Heritage Auctions: 2 April 2025
USD 1,875

KAWS (b. 1974)
Accomplice (Pink), 2002
Painted cast vinyl
Edition: 55/1000
Stamped on the underside of feet
Produced by Medicom Toy, Tokyo

Sotheby’s Hong-Kong: 18 May 2021
Estimated: HKD 10,000 – 20,000
HKD 69,300 / USD 8,920

KAWS (b.1974)
Accomplice (Pink), 2002
Painted cast vinyl, with original product box
Stamped with the artist’s name, date and fabricator
Stamped 671 on the product box
This work is number 671 from an edition of 1000
Produced by MEDICOM TOY

Heritage Auctions: 21 January 2020
Estimated: USD 1,500 – 2,500
USD 9,375 
AUCTION RECORD FOR ACCOMPLICE (PINK)

KAWS (b. 1974)
Accomplice (Pink), 2002
Painted cast vinyl
Edition: 418/1000
Stamped to underside of the feet and numbered on the box
Produced by Medicom and OriginalFake, Tokyo

 

 

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ACCOMPLICE (Black), 2002

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ACCOMPLICE (Black)

Medium: Painted cast vinyl
Year: 2002
Dimensions: 23x7x6 cm (9 x 2-3/4 x 2-3/8 inches)
Edition: 1000
Produced by Medicom Toy and OriginalFake, Tokyo

Stamped ‘MEDICOM TOY MADE IN CHINA © KAWS..02’ on the underside

 

 

Auction Results

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LA Modern: 18 March 2025
Estimated: USD 1,000 – 1,500
USD 1,143

KAWS (Brian Donnelly, b.1974)
Accomplice (Black), 2002
Painted cast vinyl
Impressed signature, date and manufacturer’s mark to underside
‘Medicom Toy Made in China @ KAWS..02’
This work is from the edition of 1000
Co-produced by Medicom Toy and OriginalFake, Tokyo
Sold with original packaging

Heritage Auctions: 1 November 2023
USD 937.5

KAWS (b. 1974)
Accomplice (Black), 2002
Painted cast vinyl
Stamped on underside of feet
Produced by Medicom Toy and OriginalFake, Tokyo

Heritage Auctions: 21 January 2020
Estimated: USD 1,500 – 2,500
USD 6,875
AUCTION RECORD FOR ACCOMPLICE (BLACK)

KAWS (b. 1974)
Accomplice (Black), 2002
Painted cast vinyl
Edition: 230/500
Stamped on the underside of the feet
Produced by Medicom and OriginalFake, Tokyo

 

 

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Monumental Accomplice (Fiberglass), 2010

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Accomplice

Medium: Fiberglass resin and rubberized paint
Year: 2010
Dimensions: 120 1/8 x 47 5/8 x 24 3/4 inches (305x121x63 cm)
Edition: 3
Artist’s Proofs: 1 AP

Brooklyn-based artist KAWS re-appropriates bits of popular culture and transforms them into eye catching iconic sculptures and paintings. His cartoon characters, recognizable to the media savvy public, undergo a sardonic set of alterations. Beginning his career in New York, he initiated his ‘forced collaborations’ by marking up fashion advertisements found in New York City phone booths, adding his own signature motifs to already existing photographic imagery and eventually expanding his practice to paintings and sculptures of varying sizes.

The present lot, Accomplice from 2010 stands at a towering height in a childlike pink hue and is skillfully accented with KAWS’ iconic white gloves and signature ‘X’ eyes. Drawing reference to a pink Bugs Bunny, he also adorned the figure with a white bib, bow and cotton ball tail. Though visually charming and simplistic, the process behind fabricating Accomplice is in fact quite complex, as he must translate his vision in the round, working in 3D modelling software. Beginning as table top toys, KAWS explains that to him, toys were a way to enter into sculpture practice and, as he comments, ‘the only way I could see my work three-dimensionally.’ (KAWS, quoted in Kathryn Branch, ‘The KAWS Effect,’ T Magazine, 7 June 2011) Blown up to life-size scale, the present lot playfully draws upon a connection to the art historical tradition of figurative sculpture, beginning with Egyptian sarcophagi. The resulting sculpture is an adult-sized toy, injecting humor into more mature notions of life and death as signified by the ancient symbols it recalls. The sculptural characters KAWS creates fuse childhood whimsy with a melancholic twist, as in the present lot, a beloved childhood cartoon suspiciously titled Accomplice.

Auction Results

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Accomplice, 2010

Phillips London: 9 March 2018
Estimated: GBP 300,000 – 500,000
GBP 669,000 / USD 926,630

KAWS – 20th Century & Contemporary Ar… Lot 155 March 2018 | Phillips

REPEAT SALE

Phillips London: 15 October 2014
Estimated: GBP 150,000 – 250,000
GBP 266,500 / USD 426,360

KAWS – Contemporary Art Evening Sale Lot 47 October 2014 | Phillips

 

 

 

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Accomplice (Bronze), 2006

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Accomplice

Medium: Painted bronze
Year: 2006
Sculpture: 10 x 4 x 2 1/4 inches (25.4 x 10.2 x 5.7 cm)
Box: 12 1/2 x 5 3/8 x 3 3/4 inches (31.8 x 13.7 x 9.5 cm)
Edition: 10
Artist’s Proofs: 2 AP
Colors: Black and Grey

Signed KAWS, dated 06 and numbered (on the underside and on the box lid)

 

Auction Results

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KAWS Accomplice, 2006

Sotheby’s New-York: 19 November 2021
Estimated: USD 80,000 – 120,000
USD 176,400

KAWS Accomplice | Contemporary Day Auction | 2021 | Sotheby’s

KAWS (b. 1974)
KAWS Accomplice, 2006
Painted bronze and wood box
Sculpture: 10 x 4 x 2 1/4 inches (25.4 x 10.2 x 5.7 cm)
Box: 12 1/2 x 5 3/8 x 3 3/4 inches (31.8 x 13.7 x 9.5 cm)
Signed KAWS, dated 06 and numbered 1/10 (on the underside)
Signed KAWS, dated 06 and numbered 1/10 (on the box lid)
This work is number 1 from an edition of 10, plus 2 artist’s proofs

KAWS Accomplice, 2006

Sotheby’s New-York: 19 November 2021
Estimated: USD 80,000 – 120,000
USD 107,100

KAWS Accomplice | Contemporary Day Auction | 2021 | Sotheby’s

 

KAWS (b. 1974)
KAWS Accomplice, 2006
Bronze and wood box
Signed KAWS, dated 06 and numbered 1/10 (on the underside)
Signed KAWS, dated 06 and numbered 1/10 (on the box lid)
This work is number 1 from an edition of 10, plus 2 artist’s proofs

ACCOMPLICE, 2006

Phillips Hong-Kong: 26 November 2018
Estimated: HKD 600,000 – 800,000
HKD 1,187,500 / USD 151,810

KAWS – 20th Century & Contemporary … Lot 27 November 2018 | Phillips

ACCOMPLICE, 2006

Phillips Hong-Kong: 26 November 2018
Estimated: HKD 600,000 – 800,000
HKD 1,150,000 / USD 147,015

KAWS – 20th Century & Contemporary … Lot 32 November 2018 | Phillips