Chiquito

CHIQUITO

2021
Acrylic, gouache, India ink and pencil on linen canvas
49 × 42 × 5 cm
RT4A2101
Private collection
Courtesy of the artist


Audio
rt4a, Chiquito, 2022, 03’12” ©rt4a

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‘Chiquito’ is the name of a small Jacquemus bag; CHIQUITO shows another, Telfar’s black Small Shopping Bag, on the green of the falling code in The Matrix (1999).

The song of the same name sets elements of the theme from The Matrix over beats after Massive Attack’s ‘Teardrop’ (1998). Its French lyrics translate Telfar’s description of the bag. The product becomes a portrait; its sales copy becomes a lyric.

The title names one bag and the painting shows another: a name and an image need not designate the same identity. I also read The Matrix in relation to trans rights – the image you recognise does not settle who or what it represents.


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