Madagascan
Lemur (Frenchman's Cove, Jamaica)
circa 2012
Today there are
countless examples of crude and usually talentless works of graffiti scarring
not only the surfaces onto which they are painted, but also our impressions of
what truly good street art may
achieve, and whether it really exists at all.
Among the few
contemporary artists, however, whose work always compliments or beautifies in
some way its public surroundings, there is Masai. Seen crouching near the tip
of this giant lemur's tail in order to refine its furry African print pattern,
Masai is a consistent master of sewing into his works a subtle melding together
of animal-as-human and human-as-animal motifs, perhaps with the intention to
artistically enhance and question our awareness of just how crucially one's
existence affects that of the other. As with this jaunty lemur, he imbues into
its identity - its affinity with the wild - the synthetic design of a
human-made cloth and of what the lemur holds in its completed state, the Jamaican
flag in the form of a kite. This brings to mind a simultaneous expression of patriotism and of the
inevitable imprint a superior civilisation can leave on one that is weaker or
fewer in numbers. Animals, unequipped with the same level of intellect as humans,
are those who unfortunately feel the slow sting of man-kind's revolutionary,
polluting 'evolutions' the most. And this is Masai's message: notice that which
is going un-noticed, and do something
about it.
On a slightly similar note, Masai's latest
beauty of a boxer deserves a, 'Rest in peace, Lola'.
