Soap Stars. 2008

Erro made this painting Soap Stars with a real emphasis on laying down flat areas of unmodulated color, it is pure process, going with the flow of line and tone like in a comic book. There’s this almost aggressive clarity in the way Erro uses color, so intense and bold, yet contained within these hard-edged black outlines. Looking closely, you can see how each section is like a puzzle piece, fitted together to create this chaotic narrative scene. Take the way he paints the hands gripping the guns. The hands look enormous, dominating the composition, almost like they’re reaching out of the painting. This recalls the Pop Art sensibility of someone like James Rosenquist, who also dealt with themes of popular culture and mass media. Ultimately though, the lack of nuance kind of allows you, forces you, to bring your own interpretation to the piece.