Driving with Artists: KAWS and Julia Chiang

Julia Chiang drives the Land Drover Defender. Photo by Julia Chiang.

Julia Chiang, a New York based artist, has always been the driver in the family. But recently she decided it was time to share the responsibility with her partner, Brian Donnelly, who is the artist KAWS. The artists and their children are often in the car together.

“Brian just got his license a couple years ago, so it's a process,” Chiang said in an interview with Le Car. Since Donnelly officially earned his license, he is working his way into the driver’s seat and starting to notice cars on the road. This fall, in an off-hand comment, he told Chiang he liked the stand-out boxy design of the new Land Rover Defender.

For Donnelly’s birthday, Chiang thought it would be fun to surprise KAWS with his first new-car test drive. “Brian just had mentioned he liked it and neither of us had driven it. It has such a history of being that classic can-do-everything car. As a belated 50th birthday gift I figured, why not see if we can give it a try?”

Le Car helped Chiang arrange for a weekend test driving experience in a 2024 Land Rover Defender 110 Dynamic SE for the New York based artists, organized by Land Rover. The four-door, two-row model came in a grey shade called Gondwana Stone and an all ebony interior. It rode on 20-inch wheels and included various safety features plus a comfort and convenience package that added rear privacy glass, a panoramic roof, and a Meridian surround sound system. Off road, air suspension and cold climate packages added more bells and whistles to the option list.

“I like to imagine that I can get in any car and get myself through any weather terrain. When Brian mentioned he liked the Defender I was like yes, now I can pretend I'm that person,” she said.

“I felt much more confident of my surroundings then I have in my previous driving experiences.”

— KAWS

Chiang and Donnelly zipped around the tri-state area in their November test drive of the Defender. “We drove from the city to Connecticut with the kids and visited some family in New Jersey over the holiday. It was a great surprise for Brian. We drove through every form of weather, too,” Chiang said. “We were laughing like it was all set up.”

The Defender is the biggest vehicle either artist has driven. “At first I thought I'd feel to out of touch with the ground, but the visuals are so good, up high and the windows are bigger, you get such a better vantage point to everything around you,” she said.

Donnelly agreed. “I really liked the visibility through the mirrors when in the drivers seat,” Donnelly said. “I felt much more confident of my surroundings then I have in my previous driving experiences.”

The Defender’s design resonated with both drivers. Its outdoorsy persona is aligned with Chiang’s love for nature and her dreams of going off roading. “I love roads surrounded by nature, driving through the mountains in Colorado, through the vastness in New Mexico, up the coast in California. I don't do it often, but that's pretty awesome.”

““I like to imagine that I can get in any car and get myself through any weather terrain.””

— Julia Chiang

Mastering the terrain response cabilities and suite of in-car tech organized in the Defender’s Pivi-Pro infotainment system proved to more than they could tackle in a few days, but they did call out the joy of a heated steering wheel. “In general, it just looked great,” Chiang said. “I'm not into extra add-ons just for the sake of it, you know what I mean? Like let's add this, but because it makes it seem fancier. I like utility and practical elements when it comes to cars — simple and clean. I do have to say the light up Defender logo was a bit much for me, flashier than I lean toward.”

While the Defender fared well outside of the city, neither was sure if they could manage the ride and handling of the full size SUV on a daily basis. “It feels a bit big and more than you need for usual city driving, which is what I normally do.” The 3.0-liter V6 engine setup is not the most powerful Defender offering on the market, but it still produced 395-horsepower and a sturdy 406-pound feet of torque, drawing from a mild-hybrid engine that stores energy and boost fuel economy. It had an 8-speed automatic transmission that distributed power to all four wheels.

It’s a far different driving experience than what Chiang remembers from her childhood, riding in the trunk of her dad’s Datsun. “Before car seat laws were what they are now, I'd have a pillow and blanket back there.” Back in suburban New Jersey, Chiang counted down the days until she could get her driver’s permit when she was a teen, after taking driving lessons from an instructor named Mr. Wreckage. “That couldn’t have been his real name!” she said. Chiang prides herself on being smooth, safe, and a tiny bit aggressive when necessary to navigate New York City streets.

The artists are just starting to think about what a new car will look like in the garage — and this test drive kicked in the car bug. “I'd love to try driving so many cars — a non-gas guzzler that is great on slippery roads and snow, fits the kids and a friend or two, and has room for our never-ending supplies and gear.”

Chiang and Donnelly spend a lot of time on the road with back to back exhibitions and projects now that extend into 2025. Chiang makes colorful detailed paintings and ceramics. She is showing work in the group exhibtion Soft/Cover at the Fabric Workshop in Philadelphia. She’s opening a show at the Modern Institute in January in Glasgow, Scotland and next summer will have her first exhibition at Jessica Silverman gallery in San Francisco. KAWS works across disciplines in painting, sculpture, murals, and product design. The KAWS + Warhol exhibition is at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh through January 20, and “The Way I See It: Selections from the KAWS Collection” is on view at the Drawing Center through January 19. His New York exhibition of new paintings, Day by Day, at Skarstedt Gallery is open until Dec. 21. KAWS has been traversing the world of late, releasing a watch made in collaboration with Audemars Piguet and launching new KAWS-themed Squid Game figures. In more ways than one, Chiang and Donnelly are two artists on the move.

Now that Donnelly has polished up his driving skills, Chiang is ready to swap seats from time to time. “All depends on the situation but since I'm the main driver in the family I do have to say, being driven is a treat. When I'm driving and the whole car is napping that's when I want to switch seats.”