In this picture I see two slabs of meat hanging behind a man, I'm assuming that the meat is of a cow, but I do not know for sure. There is certain look to the meat that appears to be very dark, like its supposed to symbolize death, as the colors look very evil to me. The man's face also comes off as very sinister and death-like, it even looks like a smiling skull dipped in pale wax. I see a very dark room, almost pitch black except for what seems to be light coming through cracks of the walls. We aren't supposed to interpret anything, but when I look at this picture I literally see an image of death and decay, which can be justified with the colors and the painting style. The man's eyes sink deep into their sockets, making it look like he doesn't have any eyes at all. His mouth also appears to have no teeth, its very eerie.
Set #7
16 years ago
4 comments:
Ya know, the portraits that Francis Bacon drew were used for inspiration for the Joker in the Dark Knight.
You must wonder why the man is so happy around death.
Charlie,
Bacon's art is really quite disturbing and provocative even after all of these years. I am always struck by his interest (obsession?) with death and religion--it's all so twisted yet profound! Very cool image--Have you seen the film "Love is the Devil" about Bacon's life?
Steve B.
In this picture there are several juxtapositions that I can observe, the first being the issue of life versus death. Of course you notice right away the two pieces of meat hanging and facing each other. In front of them, a man smiling in his chair. This is contrasting life and death as they are right next to each other but at different ends of the spectrum. The second juxtaposition that comes to mind is that of the coloring. The picture takes place in a black shed with streaks of light coming around the cracks, and you see the man in the foreground painted with mostly blue sad colors, and the meat being painted with reds, but also whites as well making them more bright and noticable than the man. I do not know what the artist was trying to get across with this technique, maybe it was just purely for looks but you could say that maybe the whole messege of the image is that death is all around the man.
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