Post #333277 by Tiki Lion on Tue, Sep 18, 2007 7:07 PM

On 2007-09-18 18:18, tikiyaki wrote:
I think you have to look PAST the aesthetic of his work, and see what's really going on in those paintings.

OK, for anyone not following, take for example the image of "El Banderillero":

Banderillero is a term referring to one of the fellows in a bull ring with particular skills and duties, within an elaborate cultural context with both primitive and refined rituals.
Excerpting very abbreviated description from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torero:
"Skilled banderilleros can actually correct faults in the manner in which the bull charges by lancing the bull in such a way that the bull ceases hooking to one side, which can seriously endanger a matador."

quote from the artist in an interview posted at http://www.modculture.co.uk/shag/
"I started using animals as a way to tell people that I wasn't painting the "real" world... the bull represents that part of being a male which is totally subjugated by the opposite sex."

Note the ambiguous expression on the swimming bull, note that only the man "sitting out" is not burrowing his hand into his pocket...

What is the bull doing here; what does the bull represent? Swimming? Alone in the pool?

Who is the corpulent fellow standing to the left, and what is the meaning of the not-quite resolved "...stside" tattoo on the back of his head, and what's with his elegant duds?

What is a banderillero doing here in the first place???

This just scratches one possible surface perspective, and Josh ain't sayin' what it all means.