Bombón Faux Toy Print

The title of this work is an oral pun on the Spanish version (“bombón”) of the French word (“bonbon”) for a little mouthful of something sweet, in combination with the French expression “bon fauteuil” (a good armchair), which was Matisse’s description of what art should be, in his opinion: a comfortable easy chair in which the tired man of letters or businessman could relax after a long, hard day of work. What is depicted is practically objective reportage of the “mise en scène” that was organized for Mexican former wunderkind Julio Galán, when he offered a press conference prior to the opening of his retrospective at the art museum of the Universidad de Guadalajara. The outsized, carved wooden throne that was brought in especially for the artist to perch himself on, as well as most of the elements of Mr. Galán’s wardrobe and makeup, were drawn from press photos of the event. Of the many early works by Mr. Galán that were included in that show, I have depicted one in some detail, in the background at the upper left. That work, titled “Niño posando como Egipcio” (Boy Posing as an Egyptian), basically emerged around the same time as The Bangles’ hit song “Walk Like an Egyptian” was flooding the airwaves, jukeboxes and video bars. Perhaps they were all part of some incredible zeitgeist during that time involving “walking like” or “posing as” an Egyptian. It occurred to me that there was an even earlier precedent, among expressions of fairly underground or at least “alternative” pop culture, that might well have influenced both: one of B. Kliban’s drawings from his 1976 book Never Eat Anything Bigger Than Your Head & Other Drawings (Workman Publishing Company, Inc., New York). As a child of very wealthy family, the young Julio—who, according to his future dealer in Monterrey, frequently arrived at his gallery in a chauffeur-driven stretch limo, silently perusing the exhibitions before mysteriously disappearing—likely had access to any cultural material he might have desired to reference, as well as the opportunity to travel and imbibe the underground and countercultural expressions then pullulating in U.S., Canadian and European urban centers, but which, owing to official censorship and conservative social values, were probably much harder to find in Mexico. Therefore, as a kind of “righting of the historical record” in terms of possible influence—or at least as a way to postulate my hypothesis that Galán probably knew of (and was likely influenced by) the whacky absurdist humor of B. Kliban, which certainly was unlikely to have been widely known at the time in Mexico, lending even more mystique to the notion of Galán’s “genius” for his Mexican viewers—I included a painted reproduction of the Kliban cartoon “Hardw,” in the hands of the vexing putto (cherub) perched on the opposing chair arm. Mr. Galán’s dealer is depicted, along with a couple of university dignitaries, congratulating themselves and celebrating the triumph of the former boy wonder in front of the image of the boy pharoah, posing as an Egyptian.

Print:Giclee on Fine Art Paper

Size:8 W x 12 H x 0.1 D in

Size with Frame:13.25 W x 17.25 H x 1.2 D in

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