The central figure in this work, titled Mustardbatress, by Louie Cordero seems convinced that the only way to hide her ugliness is through thoughtless consumption, which ironically makes her all the more repulsive. Covered in strands of dripping goo, possibly the “mustard” alluded to in the title, she stares at the viewer through a gnarled nest of commodities, images of bastardized nature, as well as indicators of mortality, such as the casket held aloft by a skeletal hand. The painting, in its diamond orientation, seems to say the headiness of our life as consumers terminates only in death; what we consume will eventually consume us. In garish, screaming color and with every detail clamoring for attention, the work replicates the spectacle of advertisement, as it “sells” a world that is already familiar to us: one that delights in clutter and excess. It is one of Cordero’s most complex works.
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Louie Cordero (b.1978)
Mustardbatress
signed and dated 2009 (lower left)
oil on canvas
56” x 56” (142 cm x 142 cm)
SOLD: PHP 1,868,800
Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist
Exhibited: Osage Gallery, Hong Kong, 2010; Osage Gallery, Singapore, 2009
Literature: Some Rooms, Osage Gallery , 2009, p. 37 (illustrated); Francisco, Francis, Without Walls, Winrum Publishing, Pasig City, Philippines, 2010, p.207 (illustrated)