‘Kaws: the message’ arrives at Palazzo Strozzi
A new large-scale installation, KAWS: THE MESSAGE occupies the Renaissance courtyard of Palazzo Strozzi in Florence. The work will stand within the arcaded courtyard from October 29th, 2025 to January 25th, 2026. The installation, commissioned by Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi and Fondazione Hillary Merkus Recordati, brings a pair of monumental wooden figures into one of the city’s most ordered public spaces.
Stepping into the open-air stone-paved loggia, the two sculptures each stand over six meters tall. Their material presence is warm and tactile to contrast with the cool grey stonework of the surrounding colonnade.
‘KAWS: THE MESSAGE’, Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, 2025. photo © Ela Bialkowska, OKNO studio © KAWS
sculpted timber in florence’s renaissance-era stone
The timber installation KAWS: THE MESSAGE introduces a warmth into the courtyard’s otherwise stony atmosphere. The figures face each other across a low plinth, forming an axis aligned with the palace’s central passage. The symmetry of the courtyard amplifies their positioning: arches and windows appear to frame the dialogue between the two characters.
The artist’s use of wood rather than resin or metal allows the sculptures to absorb the light and shadow that shift throughout the day. Their smooth surfaces and minimal joints convey solidity while maintaining a subdued finish. The scale — imposing yet contained — makes the height of the loggia newly perceptible, and reveals how the architecture manages proportion and rhythm.
KAWS presents a new large-scale installation in the courtyard of Palazzo Strozzi in Florence
a reinterpretation of fra angelico’s annunciation
The installation coincides with Palazzo Strozzi’s exhibition dedicated to Fra Angelico, drawing a conceptual link between Renaissance painting and contemporary form. KAWS reinterprets the traditional theme of the Annunciation through his characters COMPANION and BFF, each absorbed by the glow of a mobile phone. The gesture translates a historic moment of revelation into a language of digital communication.
This correspondence unfolds spatially. The Renaissance courtyard, conceived as a civic meeting ground, becomes a place of suspended communication. Visitors pause under the arcades, aware of the height of the columns and the openness above. The work redefines the threshold between interior and exterior, private reflection and public encounter.
two wooden figures over six meters tall stand in dialogue within the Renaissance architecture
The initial impression is of stillness and scale. The two figures command attention but remain serene, their gestures understated. Sound gathers softly under the arcades — the scrape of shoes on stone, a faint echo that anchors the experience within the architecture. The wooden surface, faintly warm to the touch, contrasts with the cool air circulating through the courtyard.
Light defines much of the encounter. It enters from above, diffused by the surrounding loggia, casting shadows that elongate and merge with the columns. The figures catch the changing tones of day, from morning brightness to the low gold of evening. The architecture’s rhythm of arches and bays provides a slow visual cadence that complements the measured posture of the sculptures.
warm wood contrasts with the grey pietra stone and classical proportions of the courtyard
the figures reference Fra Angelico’s Annunciation through a contemporary lens
the work reactivates the courtyard as a contemplative space within the historic palazzo
the installation is part of the Palazzo Strozzi Future Art program
visitors move slowly through the courtyard to experience the scale and stillness
project info:
name: KAWS: THE MESSAGE
location: Florence, Italy
dates: October 29th, 2025 to January 25th, 2026
photography: photo © Ela Bialkowska, OKNO studio © KAWS © Shaniqwa Jarvis (portrait)
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