From October 29, 2025 to January 25, 2026, Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi and Fondazione Hillary Merkus present THE MESSAGE, a new site-specific installation for the courtyard of Palazzo Strozzi created by KAWS, a contemporary American artist known worldwide for works with an unmistakable style that challenges the categories and hierarchies of the art world.

KAWS (USA, 1974) has conquered the international scene with works that embrace the world of art, pop culture, and commerce, often inspired by contemporary visual animation and communication. From his early experiences as a writer to the creation of his famous characters characterized by X-shaped eyes, he has developed a highly recognizable language characterized by a playful, irreverent, and subversive approach that questions the boundaries between "high" and "low." In his works, KAWS uses shared symbols and creates hybrid figures that touch on themes and emotions capable of engaging the entire audience, both inside and outside the art world, positioning himself as one of the most influential voices in contemporary culture.

Curated by Arturo Galansino, general director of the Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi, THE MESSAGE creates a visual and symbolic short circuit with the Renaissance architecture of the palace and the ongoing exhibition dedicated to Beato Angelico (open until January 25, 2026), reinterpreting the theme of the Annunciation, one of the most famous subjects of the friar painter. Through a monumental installation, KAWS offers a unique comparison between epochs, forms, and visions, activating references to traditional iconography and, at the same time, to the everyday life of our present.

The work consists of two wooden sculptures over six meters high depicting two of KAWS' iconic characters, COMPANION and BFF, interacting with their cell phones. Their position explicitly echoes the iconographic tradition of the Annunciation, where Mary and the Archangel Gabriel face each other in a suspended dialogue between human and divine.