Kimpsons #3 2005

This screenprint by Kaws, titled Kimpsons #3, appropriates characters from the globally syndicated cartoon The Simpsons. Kaws' artistic practice in the early 2000s involved intervening on existing imagery through a range of media, including painting, sculpture, and graphic design. Here, one of the main characters is reimagined as a Pacific Islander wearing a grass skirt and lighting a blowpipe filled with dynamite. Note the artist's signature 'X's for eyes. In its combination of high and low cultural forms, and its visual play on the relationship between cultural innocence and explosive violence, this piece challenges conventional notions of authorship. To fully appreciate the multiple layers of meaning, we might need to look into the history of the appropriation of cultural stereotypes and the globalization of cartoon imagery. This way we can better understand its appeal within contemporary artistic and commercial contexts.