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Lot Essay
Recently having won acclaim for his participation in the Singapore Biennale 2013, Leslie de Chavez's critically lauded artistic career has been growing from strength to strength. Combining technically superior painting skill with thematic complexity, de Chavez tackles weighty issues relating to third world politics and social affairs. Employing a satirical approach and dark humor, de Chavez blends a motley cast of characters and non-sequitur motifs - such as de Chavez's by now iconic banana - with a more serious undertone of social engagement.
Eclipse was initially exhibited in de Chavez's solo exhibition in Zurich, Banana Republic, whose title alone provides keen insight to the artist's concerns and brand of satire. The sociopolitical term 'banana republic' was originally coined by American writer O. Henry to describe the fictional "Republic of Anchuria" his short stories treatise Cabbages and Kings, inspired by his experience in Honduras. In the present-day vernacular, a banana republic means a politically unstable country whose economy is largely dependent on the export of a single limited-resource product, such as bananas. In de Chavez's native Philippines, the severe political unrest for most of the 20th century led to the term being loosely applied on occasion by pundits, despite not entirely fulfilling all the criteria of a true banana republic. The natural humorous turn of the term is not lost on de Chavez in the slightest as, of course, the Philippines is indeed one of the world's largest producer of bananas.
Eclipse depicts a confrontation between two intimidating figures in front of a broken down car. The sunglassed character facing the viewer wields a sharpened stake, while his dog snarls at the challenger. The man facing away has a gorilla-like build and hides a bursting bag of bananas behind his back, as though planning to use them as a form of intimidation. On his left shoulder perches a pert monkey wearing sunglasses and bow-tie, usurping the archetypal role of devil-on-shoulder. This type of gangster-like behavior and thuggish violence is often assumed by many first world viewers to be a common occurrence in third world countries, and is portrayed with fiendish embellishment by de Chavez. Yet like the punchline to a joke, the threat is perpetrated not by weapons, but by a sack of bananas to be revealed at precisely the key moment.
Eclipse was initially exhibited in de Chavez's solo exhibition in Zurich, Banana Republic, whose title alone provides keen insight to the artist's concerns and brand of satire. The sociopolitical term 'banana republic' was originally coined by American writer O. Henry to describe the fictional "Republic of Anchuria" his short stories treatise Cabbages and Kings, inspired by his experience in Honduras. In the present-day vernacular, a banana republic means a politically unstable country whose economy is largely dependent on the export of a single limited-resource product, such as bananas. In de Chavez's native Philippines, the severe political unrest for most of the 20th century led to the term being loosely applied on occasion by pundits, despite not entirely fulfilling all the criteria of a true banana republic. The natural humorous turn of the term is not lost on de Chavez in the slightest as, of course, the Philippines is indeed one of the world's largest producer of bananas.
Eclipse depicts a confrontation between two intimidating figures in front of a broken down car. The sunglassed character facing the viewer wields a sharpened stake, while his dog snarls at the challenger. The man facing away has a gorilla-like build and hides a bursting bag of bananas behind his back, as though planning to use them as a form of intimidation. On his left shoulder perches a pert monkey wearing sunglasses and bow-tie, usurping the archetypal role of devil-on-shoulder. This type of gangster-like behavior and thuggish violence is often assumed by many first world viewers to be a common occurrence in third world countries, and is portrayed with fiendish embellishment by de Chavez. Yet like the punchline to a joke, the threat is perpetrated not by weapons, but by a sack of bananas to be revealed at precisely the key moment.