- What: KAWS: THE MESSAGE
- When: 29 October 2025 – 25 January 2026
- Where: Cortile di Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, Italy
THE MESSAGE by Kaws: A dialogue between technology and Renaissance art
KAWS: THE MESSAGE arrives at Palazzo Strozzi as a contemporary reflection on human communication and collective connection.
From 29 October 2025 to 25 January 2026, the Florentine courtyard transforms into a dialogue between the Renaissance and the digital age.
Created by the American artist KAWS, the monumental installation extends the artist’s investigation into emotion, interaction, and the symbolic codes that define the visual culture of the present.
Known internationally for his instantly recognizable figures and visual language rooted in animation and consumer culture, KAWS continues to question the boundaries between art and mass communication.
His two six-meter wooden sculptures, COMPANION and BFF, occupy the center of the courtyard, positioned in a silent exchange through their smartphones.
The gesture, at once familiar and reflective, mirrors the traditional composition of the Annunciation, reinterpreting one of the most emblematic themes of Christian iconography.
Curated by Arturo Galansino, Director General of the Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi, the work creates a visual and conceptual intersection with the concurrent exhibition dedicated to Beato Angelico.
By translating the sacred message of divine revelation into the language of contemporary technology, KAWS reimagines the act of communication as both intimate and universal.
The smartphone becomes an object of devotion, charged with the power to transmit and transform human presence in a constantly mediated world.
Within the courtyard’s Renaissance geometry, the sculptures invite the public into an open conversation between centuries.
The work draws on shared emotional codes—melancholy, vulnerability, solidarity—while addressing the spiritual void and immediacy of digital communication.
It reveals how technology reshapes the perception of distance and empathy, offering a mirror to the ways individuals connect and misunderstand one another in modern life.
THE MESSAGE extends the artist’s vision of art as a public encounter. Accessible to all visitors, the installation amplifies Palazzo Strozzi’s mission through its Future Art program, which invites contemporary artists to reinterpret historical architecture and heritage.
Supported by the Fondazione Hillary Merkus Recordati, the project reaffirms a commitment to cultural dialogue that transcends temporal and linguistic divisions.
As KAWS reflects, the work is not only a reinterpretation of an ancient theme but also an observation of the fragile balance between what is said and what is lost in the flow of communication.
The installation becomes a contemporary annunciation—an invitation to pause, to look, and to reconsider how messages define relationships, echoing through the timeless architecture of Florence.
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