Accompanied by a certificate signed by the
artist confirming the authenticity of this lot

Provenance:
Private Collection, Manila

Literature: Reyes, Cid. J. Elizalde Navarro. National Museum of the Philippines. Manila. 2008. p. 118

ABOUT THE WORK

Pop Art found one of its prime movers in the Philippines in the artistic identity of Jerry Elizalde Navarro. The popular culture of his time was influenced by the Sexual Revolution in the United States, spreading to developing countries, such as the Philippines, where Western culture has been ingrained in the local psyche. Barbarella and Her Things Doing is inspired by the film Barbarella, a 1968 science fiction film produced by Paramount Pictures. Based on Jean-Claude Forest’s comic series of the same name, the film stars Jane Fonda as Barbarella, a space traveler and a representative of the United Earth government sent to find scientist Durand Durand who created a bioweapon that could wipe out humanity. The film depicts scenes of nudity and sadism. Lisa Eisner of The New York Times deemed Barbarella as “the most iconic sex goddess of the ‘60s,” while the Los Angeles Times wrote that its “imagery has echoed for years in pop culture.” Retrospectively, Barbarella has widely been considered a cult classic. In the September 22, 1973 issue of The Asia Magazine, Peggy Printz described Navarro’s pop art as having colors that “pulsate with the brilliance of the tropics.” Still, his subjects and themes are sophisticated, and “the favorite victim is the commercialism that gave Pop Art its original inspiration.”