Kimpsons #10 2005

Curator: Here we have KAWS' "Kimpsons #10" from 2005, rendered in acrylic paint. It certainly makes quite a statement with its simplified presentation. Editor: Stark, isn't it? The flatness and bold outlines create a strangely detached feeling. It's visually simple but unsettling at the same time. Curator: KAWS frequently reinterprets familiar cartoon characters like the Simpsons. The X-ed out eyes, a recurring motif in his work, transforms the image into something loaded with symbolic potential. What do they evoke for you? Editor: Annihilation. Absence. Erasure, even. By removing the eyes, KAWS strips away the character’s personality. Maggie Simpson is iconic. But, those Xs, replace her recognizable gaze with void and turns her into a cipher. The pop art aesthetic further adds to this sense of mass-produced emptiness, like a toy devoid of warmth. Curator: The repetition is significant. The crossed-out eyes reference the visual language of death but, also of consumer culture where things are here today and gone tomorrow, devoured, consumed and spat out. It speaks to this constant state of cultural rebirth and reinterpretation. Also consider the body language, those arms flung wide open in supplication and submission... Editor: And the baby pacifier in the mouth, it gives it the aura of pure vulnerability... KAWS transforms childhood innocence into an emblem of obsolescence. The vibrant colors—the bright yellow and that background maroon shade—heighten this unnerving effect, making it hyper-visible yet deeply unsettling. Curator: Yes. The simple outline and limited color palette highlight the power of minimal changes and also create an extremely efficient message of what happens to innocence. I appreciate your comments that highlight the unsettling aspects in this superficially simple painting, indeed its strength stems precisely from its reduction to essential signs. Editor: Precisely. And dissecting those signs, its unsettling paradoxes, gives "Kimpsons #10" lasting resonance in contemporary pop culture.