bart qee custom by ken keirns
KEN KEIRNS: 80's Fashion Casualty Bart
/// READ MORE HERE
TRE: how did the custom gig come about? what was the genesis?
K2: I live down the street from Rotofugi, a cool designer toy store in Chicago. They asked me to participate in an upcoming custom show they were having. It was the 2005 "Funny Club Show" featuring the figure by B.B.Birdy, I made a Jack Nicholson out of it.
Since then, they have included me in "The Chop Shop Show" (through Monkey King), "Teddy Troops Invasion", "Bunny Qee Fiesta" (through Toy2R) and recently the "Bart Simpson Qee" (also through Toy2R).
Before Rotofugi, I had been working on a toy concept from an earlier painting of mine. It’s called the Destroyer. It’s a cute woman in a puffy pink polka-dotted suit. There have been a couple of different variations of her.
TRE: please do share with us your custom concept! im having flashbacks
K2: The 80’s Fashion Casualty Bart was originally going to be a grimy old man. The hair posed a problem though, there’s no getting around the spiky hair. So, I thought to myself, who has spiky hair? People in the 80’s!
Then I had fun from there. I tried to include as many styles that were unique to the 80’s as I could think of. He has speed lines and a tail on that sweet 'do, parachute pants, vans, a Michael Jackson jacket, a piano key tie, and the standard single earring on the left side.
TRE: spot-on, dude!
K2: I am a Simpsons fan. I really don’t get a lot of TV time these days, so I am a bit behind. I catch it whenever I can.
I made an attempt to collect all of the Playmates figures that were out a while back, but I gave up around series 6. I am very proud of my Devil Flanders though.
TRE: coolness. heck i don't even have any Simpsons figures myself! :p ... why do you think the Simpsons-character skin is yellow?
K2: Bad livers?
TRE: do you think Bart is a pain-in-da-ass or is he just plain misunderstood?
K2: I think Bart has it all worked out…
TRE: if you were a Simpsons-character, who would you wanna be and why?
K2: I would be Snake, he has the sweetest ride… “Bye!”
TOYSREVIL: cheers for your time and trouble, Ken! awesome custom, IMHO :) - in closing, maybe you'd liketa share with us WHO IS KEN KEIRNS?
KEN KEIRNS: I am a Chicago based artist. I mainly paint in oils on board or canvas. Subject matter is usually women with large heads and long necks or monkeys.
I’ve been rather busy preparing for several upcoming group shows this year and a couple solo shows next year.
KEN'S LINKS:
- www.kenkeirns.com
- www.rotofugi.com = August group show “B.F.F.” and solo show next year in April
- www.theveniceconteporary.com = Several upcoming group shows and a solo next year.
- www.gallery1988.com = November group show
- peep Ken's 80's Fashion Casualty Bart hi-res images on his flickr
