A Case of Commoner Salt. Oil on Canvas, 120 x 100cm. 2020
This speaks to the growing protests around the world against entrenched power and privilege enjoyed by the few. Paintings hung in hallowed halls are pulled to the ground by a common man who rails against the decadence that excess wealth affords them. Salt, a currency once mined in unbearable conditions has been replaced by moneybags. Equally sordid working conditions exist today, his becoming barefoot shows this poverty. The waving of flags, an impotent symbol of protest won’t change a law, but the turnout of thousands on the street just might, and so he marches. He has toppled a suited man, a symbol of modern excessive consumption. The protesting man moves towards the removing of another figure of power. Based on the portrait of George Washington, “El Presi Dente,” represents the apex of power currently held by a man of questionable integrity. The sold sticker shows he has Sold Out.
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