Mandela. 2008

Erro made this painting, "Mandela," without providing a date, and he seems to have used bright, flat colors and bold outlines in his process. There's a playful, almost cartoonish quality that belies the heavy subject matter; it's a real head-scratcher. The surface is super smooth, no visible brushstrokes. It’s like he wanted to hide the hand, to let the imagery do all the talking. But what is it saying? Bugs Bunny, Nazis, Nelson Mandela trapped behind bars, and spaghetti, all crammed into one frame! That fork twirling the spaghetti looks almost like a torture device, hovering over Mandela’s image. This kind of mash-up of high and low, humor and horror, feels connected to artists like Peter Saul, who also wasn’t afraid to mix the absurd with the political. It’s a reminder that art doesn’t always have to make sense to make a statement.