Strata (No Happy Endings), 1997

89” x 106”, Paintings by Ron Benner, photostats, Plexiglas

This work consists of 3 sections.

I asked artist Ron Benner to make two paintings using a quote taken from the book “No Happy Endings” by Mexican writer Paco Ignazio Taibo.

a) The text in the first painting is done with cochineal pigment painted on an indigo ground. The quote begins in English, then alternates between English and Spanish.

b) The text in the second painting is done with indigo pigment painted on a cochineal ground. The quote begins in Spanish, then alternates between Spanish and English.

c) The middle section is made up of 4 Peximounted photostats, 2 black with white text and 2 white with black text. The texts are lipsum or dummy texts used by designers when doing lay-outs.