Monday, May 4, 2009

READER SUBMISSION: "Pregnant Banana Lady from Mexico", by M, Chicago




Lovable, racist brand icons are as American as Mom, apple pie and baseball (now 35% populated by Latin born players, by the way). Look no further than the Colonel, KFC's sassy sharecropping pitchman. Delicious! So there is definitely some tasty space to play where Warhol's ode to consumerism left off. M fills that space deftly and pulls absolutely no punches in "Pregnant Banana Lady from Mexico". The artist leaves little to the imagination, or does he? A dead ringer for Chiquita's well-known icon, M has made some devilish "updates"; a touch of elephantitis to the right hand attacks the blatant sexist nature of the original piece; the shrunken head can in no way "carry the load" of her more traditional sister; and lastly, what apeears to be an elongated pregnant belly takes all the sand from that famous hourglass figure. But M leaves his icon's skin white as snow. After years of having our fun at the sake of cultures around the globe, who's the servant girl now?

1 comment:

  1. It looks like she's holding a miniature toucan bird.

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