Provenance: Private Collection, Hong Kong

ABOUT THE WORK

In his body of work, Louie Cordero exemplifies his fluency of the contemporary idiom — from street art to pop surrealism to graphic design. This eclectic, high-octane visual language is apparent in W.O.L.F. In this painting, the lone, central figure is a punk, complete with mohawk and tight-fitting pants. He also happens to be a wolf in “wolf’s clothing” quite literally as the word is emblazoned on his shirt. Fangs visible and claws drawn out, he growls at something invisible to the viewer, his utterance captured in a speech balloon. Whatever the wolf-punk is raging against, the psychedelic technicolor background marked by criss-crossing lines (could they constitute a veritable cage?) offer a contrasting tone, if not levity. W.O.L.F. suggests, amid the presence of visible constraints, the satisfying release of fury through the agency of music and art.