An extraordinary six-metre tall wooden sculpture – a mimic of the iconic Mickey Mouse – will certainly have the wow factor for visitors to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park from next month.

Newly created by New York-based artist Brian Donnelly, who works under the name KAWS, it is part of a solo exhibition that can be seen at the West Bretton art venue from February 6 until June 12, 2016.

KAWS, who is perhaps best known for his signature characters with crossed-out eyes and collectible ‘cartoon’ toys, is showing sculptures, prints and paintings in the UK’s first museum exhibition of his work.

It was back in the 1990s that KAWS, a former grafitti artist, conceived his trademark soft skull with crossbones and eyes with crosses. It is an image that led him to become a manufacturer of limited edition vinyl toys and collaborate with global clothing brands and other toy companies.

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Merchandising has been at the heart of KAWS’ artistic practice but he is now considered to be one of the most influential contemporary artists to focus on popular culture. His work has a wry humour in the way it subverts and abstracts familiar cartoon characters. It is said to transcend language and culture.

The YSP exhibition features sculptures in bronze, fibreglass, aluminium and wood as well as large, bright canvases, some created especially for the show.

Accomplice by KAWS. On show at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park from February 2016. Courtesy of Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Against the park’s tree line visitors can view a group of six monumental works in natural wood, measuring between six and 10 metres in height, that take once-bright, iconic characters and put them in world-weary poses suggestive of compassion, surprise and despair.

In the Longside Gallery there are also monstrous forms to view, including a baby pink rabbit figure, Accomplice (2010), and the three-metre high Companion (2006), with its skin peeled back to reveal brightly-coloured internal organs, from the artist’s Tokyo store.

There are also 10 acrylic canvases, Ups and Downs (2012), that owe their inspiration to children’s cartoon character SpongeBob.

In the last few years KAWS has worked with a number of international brands and media companies, including Comme des Garcons, Nike, Lucas Films and MTV. He has made cover artwork for Kanye West’s 2008 album, 808’s and Heartbreak. His work has been shown in museums of contemporary art all over America.