I had sort of a long drawn out conversation with this piece the first time I saw it, because of the background I was bringing with me about the artist. He is a vegan, and a lot of his art deals with anti-consumerism themes, so what I saw first was mass marketed bad for you meat products, advertised at their tackiest level and started trying to figure out what he was saying about consumerism this time. And then the euphemism he's utilized hit me. He's taken that American consumer icon, which would appeal primarily to a mainstream American audience (though I suspect a good chunk of counter culture folks know the Oscar Meyer wiener song too) and used it to address an issue which many folks in mainstream America are none too comfortable with. Because it's not immediately obvious and in your face saying, "girls can love girls and boys can love boys", the viewer who isn't comfortable with that subject matter can't write it off at a glance, but might be drawn in by the vivid color and icons they know and then have to deal with the issue put forth. I'm also amused by, though I don't know if it's intentional, by how the front end of the wieners sort of angle up like their happy to see their partners. On that note, my only regret with this piece is that the tacos don't look happier.
Here are a few other pieces by this artist:
He also has a deviant art site which is well worth checking out.
Holy shit, this guy is amazing!
ReplyDeleteGreat skills, yes, but also fantastic concepts. Unlike the dying breed of conventional caricature, this is the kind of political art that will keep on kicking ass for decades to come.
I am in awe.
I really like this artist's style, how he doesn't use stark black or white very often and does use big planes of color that really pop. I like the look of cell shading and the level of detail in his line work, like the curls in the brain and the tentacles of the lab rat. These are some really cool messages shown in a very effective way!
ReplyDeleteI really like how he chooses to convey these messages. They're very bold, they almost look like propaganda posters.
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