Sketches of Spain (2009)
Acrylic on canvas
16" x 20"
What it is:
...the donkey can represent the forced labor and slavery that built the Spanish empire or the it can represent the Spanish state as an "ass" which despite controlling half the world for 300 years, has little to show for it, it's not a power in finance, technology, trade, shipping, nothing...all the lost lives etc. throughout all those centuries and Spain has one of the weakest economies in europe...Spain manifested as an irrational (stupid) "ass"...
What it speaks to:
The brutal impact of capitalism and colonialism on both the colonizer and colonized, exposing the contradictions and hypocrisy implicit in western notions of "progress" and "civilization" upon encountering the "savage," "uncultured," or "primitive".
The brutal impact of capitalism and colonialism on both the colonizer and colonized, exposing the contradictions and hypocrisy implicit in western notions of "progress" and "civilization" upon encountering the "savage," "uncultured," or "primitive".
The reaffirmation on culture values, identity, and culture, and their relevance, reminding us that the relationship between consciousness and reality are extremely complex...it is equally necessary to decolonize our minds, our inner life, at the same time that we decolonize society. Colonization is a complete system—it is a racialized system, a system of psychological dimensions, power domination and economic oppression. On the other hand, it is a system that failed, generating a civilization in decay. For as Aimé Césaire notes, “a civilization that proves incapable of solving the problems it creates is a decadent civilization. A civilization that uses its principles for trickery and deceit is a dying civilization..."
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