Kimpsons #7 2005

Editor: So here we have KAWS’s "Kimpsons #7" from 2005, made with acrylic paint. It’s… well, it’s Mo from the Simpsons, but with KAWS’s signature crossed-out eyes and Mickey Mouse ears. I’m both amused and slightly disturbed. What’s your take on it? Curator: Disturbed is good! It’s precisely that unsettling feeling, the collision of childhood comfort and… existential void, that KAWS is so good at conjuring. He takes something familiar, something almost aggressively happy, and injects it with a melancholic wink. Ever felt that strange mix of nostalgia and unease? Editor: Definitely! So it’s like he's playing with our sense of…innocence? Curator: Exactly! And appropriation, right? Think about the brazen act of taking a cultural icon, messing with it just enough, and then releasing it back into the world. What does it say about us, our relationship to pop culture, our willingness to consume, and about originality, anyway? Editor: Hmm, it makes me wonder if he's critiquing our obsession with familiar characters by emptying them of their original meaning. I mean, Mo is just a shell, there is not much going on in the painting. Curator: I like that! I also can’t help but think about street art, KAWS's background. Those bold lines, that flattened perspective... It's pure visual candy, almost like he grabbed Mo off a brick wall, signed him with crossed-out eyes, and asked a provocative question. Doesn't it remind you a little bit of graffiti art? Editor: You’re right, I do see that connection to street art now. It’s not just pop art, it’s pop art with a wink and a tag. I think I understand KAWS's point now - he’s holding a mirror to our culture of reinterpretation. Curator: See? And sometimes, looking in that mirror isn't always pretty!