6/10/07

Catmasutra - Core of Apple


A re-visit to one of my favorite paintings. In a way, I'm glad this piece remains unsold as I have become quite accustomed to it. In fact, it feels like a signature painting of the Catmasutra series.

Core of Apple is a Catmasutra take on Rene Magritte's "Son of Man" painted in 1964. The surrealist painting is a self-portrait although the man’s face is obscured by a hovering green apple. “Everything we see hides another thing, we always want to see what is hidden by what we see, but it is impossible. Humans hide their secrets too well...” Magritte said of his painting. It seems to represent the modern businessman being the son of Adam having to fight temptation in the modern world.

In the Catmasutra version, the cat motif, Halo has eaten the forbidden apple (temptation) and has the apple core by its claws. The man finally shows his face (a manga-style self-portrait, which is similar to the cat as both depict the artist) and seems not too bothered by the fate of the hovering apple. Perhaps, there are no longer any easy illusions in this day and age; we simply have to believe in ourselves and have the courage to make our dreams come true, whatever they might be...

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