"Matisse with Menthol"
A visit to Franco Mondini Ruiz's house was like a trip to eye-candyland for a child raised on food stamps. Ceramic, smoking monkeys hung out next to pink flamingos while kittens lounged luxuriously around a grand cage of birds. The entire environment was a beautiful mess of decadent, baroque frivolity, part Warholian Factory, part Renaissance workshop. Franco was very generous and candid with his knowledge of the artworld and shared his dirty little secrets about the unspoken hustles he has incorporated into the pursuit of a successful career. He has made an art of marketing his art to the right people, the
rich people and yet at the same time the mass-production of his pieces with the help of his assistants keeps it grounded in a pop sensibility. Franco mixes high and low elements with a sharp sense of humor to create clever, witty pieces that speak on many different levels.
Franco is an excellent businessman who has thought up many innovative ways to make his dream of being an artist a reality. It was very inspiring to see a successful artist living the life I'm sure many of my fellow students and myself included aspire to. Of course he put us all to work, giving us a taste of what it feels like to be a cog in his money-making machine, and in exchange he collaborated with us on a piece. Very clever...But he paid us kindly with enchilada plates and beer. Yum yum, thank you Franco.
My visual alphabet consists of items I found scattered around the house. Basically I just looked around and drew things in my immediate vicinity. These first three, A, B and C, came from my bedroom. A is for Ashtray, a frequent companion as I tend to chain smoke when I'm up late at night reading or drawing. B is for Buddha who sits on my bookshelf and C is for Cat, a ceramic figurine who hangs out down the shelf from Buddha. These are all very rough, fairly quick sketches because I waited til the last minute to do them. The majority of my alphabet was drawn out of order chronologically but this strip is an exception. I was curious to see if there was any progression from A to B to C but I really can't tell.
I found interesting juxtapositions occurred sometimes between certain objects that ended up next to each other like in this strip of H and K. H is for Heart, which was based on an old tarnished heart pendant with an interesting embossed pattern. And right below it, I drew a few Keys for K. At first I wasn't aware of it but after awhile I realized that keys and a heart go together in a sentimental Valentine's Day kind of way. The phrase "keys to my heart" comes to mind. It's funny the way your subconscious can sneak up on you, almost as if your inner self knows things and drives you to do things before your outer, consciously thinking self can catch up.
