"Goat Song No. 4: Tie a Yellow Ribbon," 1991. Oil on linen. 96" X 48".

About the work

Some of my "political" pictures, like this one, can have a dream-like cast. In the same way that, in the Shakespeare play, King Henry is visited in a dream by Richard III's victims, who wish him well on the eve of battle against Richard, my commentary on contemporary politics can include nightmares, satire, and magic realism. The "Goat," in my "Goat Song" series, is a mocking reference to the Dominican dictator Trujillo. Here, the goat creature with bat wings stands in for Trujillo. References to the military and military actions include the word "Granada," written on the straw hat, this, of course, a recollection of the US invasion of that island country in 1983, the presence of the yellow ribbon, ubiquitous at the end of the Gulf War, and the general's hat on the chimpanzee. It is militarism that makes dictatorships such as Trujillo's endure.