Mi papá no es un zapato azul 1989

Julio Galan made "Mi papá no es un zapato azul" out of paint and collage to create a disorienting dreamscape. There's a strange approach to mark-making here, a playful collage effect, combining traditional painting with found images. It feels like Galan's actively taking apart and reassembling visual information, like a kind of Surrealist puzzle. Take a look at the surface, it's very physical, the torn edges of the collaged elements create a palpable texture. See how the smooth painted surface of the central figure contrasts with the rough, uneven background. Look at the piece of meat sitting where the figures brain should be. It's disturbing, and strangely humorous, a dark joke. The artist is asking us to reconsider our assumptions about the world, to look past the surface. I'm reminded of David Salle, in how he uses collage and juxtaposition, or maybe even Sigmar Polke. Both are artists who embrace ambiguity, and multiple interpretations. Galan's work is part of this ongoing conversation, where meaning is never fixed but always shifting.