ART: Dr. Lakra

Chicago is hot right now. The heat today was dry and there was wind.

I want to talk about this artist named Dr. Lakra. While I was in Mexico, I went to Museo Amparo, which has art exhibits by contemporary artists. Dr. Lakra is a Mexican artist and tattooist. I fell in love with his work immediately. I am a huge fan of graffiti artists like Banksy, Miss Van, Shepard Ferry, etc., and Dr. Lakra's creativity felt fresh to me and in a similar spirit.

I should explain. I don't know how to explain. I wonder if listing off my favorite contemporary artists would be more clear than attempting to explain my take on art right now. I took a "Philosophy of Aesthetics" class while I was in college and we talked a lot about how to quantify beauty. We learned about Orlan, a french artist who has undergone numerous plastic surgeries to transform herself into what is perceived as "the most beautiful woman". (Just a note! Lady Gaga has definitely just become obsessed with Orlan, I think, because she is mimicing her signature look, though Lady Gaga's, I assume, are prosthetic)

Talking about art is not comfortable for me and I cannot do it well enough without drawing on a million examples and then it becomes less fun. The art I like is fun.

Dr. Lakra uses his background in tattooing in the work that he displays. He embellishes found objects, like old magazine clippings, dolls, and portraits of famous people with intricate tattoo designs or spooky, shadowing figures.

 

I am always surprised when I see how influential Japanese culture is throughout the world. Tattoos, in Japan, are mostly associated with the Yakuza (Japanese mob), and are extremely stigmatized. Yakuza men will have their entire body covered in tattoos and I couldn't help but see a comparison when looking at these dolls. Even the doll itself reminds me of a Kewpie doll, which are not Japanese, but are everywhere in Japan and are meant to be seen as the epitome of kawaii (means: CUTE! OMG!!). He's covered the figure in tattoos, adding scars and kanji to its face. He continues with a Japanese sumo wrestler, and then I wanted to add an image of his work on an old photo of a Lucha Libre wrestler for comparison.

 

While studying in Mexico, my teacher had me watch an old film called Los Tres Garcia, from 1947. One of the actors, Pedro Infante, is incredibly famous and renowned. He is a Mexican hearthrob and croons beautiful women in all of his films. Dr. Lakra did designs on a famous image of Pedro Infante, too.

When visiting new countries, finding new artists and musicians to become obsessed with is the easiest way for me to become more comfortable with the culture. I went to this exhibit on my second day in Puebla, and from that moment I knew Mexico had a lot to offer me. The culture is intense and fresh. Dr. Lakra was my introduction for what was to come during the rest of my stay.