Mandela. 2008

Erro made this painting, Mandela, without a known date. It's so dense! A cartoonish fantasy of conflicting imagery, bold colours and surreal juxtapositions, all fighting for space. I'm trying to imagine the process of layering all this on the canvas – what was it like to assemble and paint this chaos? The Bugs Bunny figure holding a picture of Mandela in a cage… and there’s spaghetti too! The way the characters interact and clash reveals the artist’s hand in the process. It's like they're trying to provoke us into feeling something, but what? The bright cartoon colors give the painting an initial sense of fun. But the themes are deadly serious, so it's pretty clear the artist is trying to create a confrontation. There’s such a strong, intentional voice at work. I sense a real conversation between artists across time, each building on the ideas of the others.