Luis Pablo Mendoza always surprises us. This piece is a perfect example. A lemur, sitting upright, holding a snail in both hands with the careful attention of someone who has just discovered something wonderful.
The composition is a gentle moment between two creatures. The lemur sits cross-legged, ringed tail coiled out to one side. Both arms cradle the snail in front of him. The expression on his face is everything: huge round amber yellow eyes, dilated wide, rimmed in cobalt blue circles that give him a look of total absorption. A tiny purple nose and mouth complete the face. He is not eating the snail. He is studying it. Maybe befriending it.
The painting is signature Luis Pablo. The body in his finely textured technique, the chest and limbs in soft mint green, the tail crisply banded in cobalt and white. The snail in his hands is a small painting all its own, pink mosaic body and striped coral and amber shell.
The lemur is not native to Mexico. He comes from Madagascar, half a world away. But Luis Pablo has always taken the alebrije tradition wherever his imagination leads. The piece is about the meeting itself, between creatures who would never meet in nature, brought together for a moment of pure curiosity.
His candle is painted on the base. Luis Pablo's mark of light, holding the whole tender scene together.
