I'm a sucker for pastiche. The piece below by Río Yañez (who I remember as a little kid running around Mission District artists' parties) unites two icons, Batman & el Aztec Hi-Tech Border Brujo hisself, Guillermo Gómez-Peña, who as he gets older is starting to remind me more and more of a Mission street character of the 90s known as The Red Man.
And speaking of pochos, there is a bit of a kerfuffle about whether Drew Friedman ripped off Lalo Alcaraz for his recent New Yorker cover. Several folks on the West Coast are convinced he did. I'm not so sure.
Obama's image has been endlessly remixed with several obvious icons: MLK, Malcolm X, Abraham Lincoln. George Washington I don't think is such a stretch. But the publication of Lalo's image predates Friedman's, and personally, I like it better -- it evokes the unfinished Gilbert Stuart painting as opposed to what most closely resembles a dollar bill. What do you think?
wow. I almost forgot about the Red Man. He freaked my lil suburban mind walkin round 16th street while I was studying at then cafes macondo y picarro.
Posted by: Lito S. | January 26, 2009 at 11:31 PM
Thanks for the Red Man homage. That piece explains a lot. I had wondered why he always got the window seat in that crowded place (the Social Club).
Posted by: anne | January 28, 2009 at 12:24 PM