HIT : 5320

Easy Target

TITLE: Easy Target
DATE: April 2011
PRICE: Mexican Peso (MXN) 57,000,000
PREFERRED BUYER: Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City, Mexico
CONDITIONS OF SALE: This painting has to be on public display for free at least 100 days every year, until the first female Mexican president is elected (hopefully the 90th).
TECHNIQUE: Oil on canvas, unframed.
DIMENSIONS: 60 x 50 cm
STORY: If not being in the AbFab style, this painting could be mistakenly interpreted as an homage to Jasper Johns. The only significant difference visually is the little red cross. However, this red cross gives a whole new meaning to this work, because it forms the biological symbol for female with the red circle above. Colours of bands in this target are arranged in such a way that they can be recognized as the Iranian flag if observed horizontally or the Italian flag if observed vertically. These two societies are saturated with religion that is extremely masculine in nature, and use and abuse woman as an easy target. Both Catholic Christianity and Islam have adopted an economic policy of high volume/low margin, to compensate for their diminishing influence in the 20th century. That comes at a cost to their female population, as their responsibility for procreation precedes all ambitions for education and emancipation. White area outside the target symbolizes innocence of all easy targets. As the asking price and preferred buyer suggest, Italy and Iran are not the only societies that oppress women. There is probably nothing more heartbreaking than watching Mexican ladies cleaning houses of rich Americans, many of them even staying illegally in the USA to enjoy the fruits of their slavery.