Love's Not Love

When I came up with “Love's not Love”,  I became aware of the Love is Love slogan. Synchronicity? Coincidence?

‘‘Love's not Love’’ and ‘‘Love's Love”.

Wally Wood L'll Abner porn comic there is something iconic about these images. That claim sounds laughable because it probably is.  

JUJA Paintings Pere Llobera & Syd Mostow

Collaborative painting show with Pere Llobera. We decided to work the same format, 2 x 1.5 meter paper works on a similar theme. That was in 2020, at Galería Esther Montoriol in Barcelona.

Leaders Aren't Made, They are Created

''Leaders Aren't Made, They’re Created''
Was thinking about the US President, the plague who should never have been elected. The beaver is given special powers—superpowers, by the fairy. Trump is a beaver, a creation. Just a fucking beaver on a tree trunk. That's how I saw the grifter president.
200 x 150 cm, 79’’ x 59”, painted drawing (is that even possible?) on Fabriano paper, 2018. 

Mickey Mouse and Pluto

“Love's not Love”. Galería Ester Montoriol, 2020. JUJA. Mickey Mouse.  Ooof !! -- what a hackneyed theme. I am sure Mickey doing it with Pluto has crossed a lot of minds. It crossed mine. Love possess. Cupid has stung them both. 

As vulgar as this seems, it's about the cupid.

Popeye Laverda Mirage 1200 Super Bike

I found this unusual Popeye image at a market in Morocco. I think it's the cover of a ruled notebook for kids, probably from the 60s or 70s. Morocco is full of surprises.

Beavers R Cute

“Beavers “R” Cute”. Well, beavers are cute. And they are furry too. What else can I say? Beavers are loveable. They are Canada’s national symbol. It's on the 5 cent Nickle coin. So, being a Canuck….
200 × 150 cm, 79 × 59’’ painted drawing on Fabriano paper, 2018.

Oh my Ears, my Whiskers 1

First painting in the series, "Oh My Ears, My Whiskers". 40 × 50 cm, mixed media on wood. A landscape. A house. An exuberant bunny. 

Oh my Ears, my Whiskers 5

‘‘Oh My Ears, My Whiskers 5’’. 40 × 50 cm, mixed media on wood. 

Oh my Ears, my Whiskers 2

“Oh my Ears, my Whiskers 2”. The title is from Alice in Wonderland. 40 × 50 cm, mixed media on wood. 

Oh my Ears, my Whiskers 4

This series of bunny paintings were a return to “narrative painting” and the seed for the painting I am doing now. 60 × 40 cm, mixed media on wood.

Exterminating Angels

Paintings from around 1995. I used to go to a junk store around the corner from my studio in the Raval, which was called the Barrio Chino back then. City Hall (El Ayuntamiento) had tried to sanitize both name and hood after tearing-down the worst parts of the neighborhood and partially eliminating a lot of the marginal activities like prostitution and drug dealing. That still goes on, but it is nothing like it was. Anyway, I'd go to a junk shop around the corner when I was stuck in the studio and I would find stuff, like old photos and figurines. I found this cheesy kitsch cast figure of an angel with a movable head. These are the result. Exterminating Angels. The painting with the male figure is Brains from the Thunderbirds, which fits with this theme.
All these paintings are 230 x170 cm. I believe one of these paintings was shown at Galería Thomas Carsten in Barcelona in 1995—the angel with the turquoise background.

2nd Installment of Gratuitous Street Posters

This is the 2nd street poster A2 size (40 x 58 cm) 16 x 2’’ that went up on the streets in Barcelona in the autumn of '95. It says “You are a Wanker, and you're not alone either --¡Yes Yes!.....Salon Autónimo of Barcelona”. Depicting Dopey (of the 7 Dwarfs) jerking off onto what looks like a Tapiés painting. 

3rd installment which never got printed. It depicts the folkloric “caganet”, the crapping man, the traditional crèche figure which Catalans like to adorn their Christmas Nativity Scenes with. So I made him crapping out a painting instead of, well, crap. Fecundity is creation. It says, “I don't paint my paintings anymore. I crap them out—that way I can produce more art and produce it faster—Barcelona, Autonomous Salon "

Caganer

At that time, the media, and government institutions were referring to “artists” as young creators. This was a way to deflect the “art” debate by changing its name in an attempt to create an art scene. There was a huge concern in general that local artists weren't getting any attention. Neither by collectors in Barcelona, museums, or internationally. But no one seemed to ask if they, the artists, whoever they were, that nefarious group of creators, deserved any attention at all, which they probably didn't. Whining artists that no one cared about anyway. The other side of the coin was this: if the people who were worried about artist activity had any idea of what they were talking about, which they didn't, then maybe they'd realize that what creates an art scene is first taste, then money, but not talk. But in the end, Barcelona was put on the map because of the Olympics in 1992. Now it is overrun by tourists.