Juan Carlos Bravo
Meanwhile, Bravo has embarked on a new series of paintings about family, inspired by the recent birth of his daughter Luna Fae. "What inspired me was Picasso's Rose Period," he says. "What I love about the Rose Period is that he uses pastel color, peachy and pink, to depict a carnivalesque, existential way of life of those circus people."
Bravo continues adding to his "Pearls and Marbles" series, and another depicting pop idols such as Kurt Cobain and former Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell. He recently created his first political drawing recently. Titled "The Usurper of Democracy," the work depicts George W. Bush as a Roman dictator with two corked ears, sitting on a throne that's being lifted into the air as people below seem to be getting crushed by the weight of it.
While the piece is rife with symbolism, Bravo isn't sure he will make a habit of political drawings. "I'm not really a political person," he admits. "I kind of stay away from that. But these eight years have been such a time that you can't deny. It affects all of us."
