Fast Food Fatality 1979

"Fast Food Fatality" by Don Ivan Punchatz, is a painting with no date, yet it oozes the late 70s, early 80s. The colours here are so upfront, right? Like, BAM, yellow and blue, but then he sneaks in all these flesh tones and browns, which is actually kinda unsettling. Look at the way he renders these faces – they’re almost cartoonish, but with this undercurrent of something darker. The Ronald McDonald looking man looks like he is about to whack someone, the painting has so much tension. Is that a ray gun to our right of the server? You can almost feel the greasy spoon smell, you know? It reminds me a bit of Peter Saul, that same kind of wild energy and biting satire, even if the approach is different. It’s like Punchatz is saying, hey, we’re all in this messy, funny, kinda messed-up world together, enjoy your burger!