More of Moo's Third World

The Wreck of Air Somalia - Acrylic on Canvas 120cm x 90cm

A metaphor for the failed nation state of Somalia. The quiet wreck of the national carrier  lying broken and decaying in some lonely field, watched over by some drugged-up goat herder with an AK-47. I wanted the airliner to appear like it just rolled out to the field, dropped and died. After doing this painting i did a Google search and found a pic of an aircraft for sale in Russia that once belonged to the failed Air Somalia. It's paint job almost identical to mine.

Bangalore by Bus - Acrylic on Canvas 120cm x 90cm

After two and a half years it was time to leave Bangalore. I found myself torn between two emotions: "i hate this place'" and "i really fucking hate this place".
This is my salute to the dysfunctional city and people of Bangalore. A painting of those shitty old blue and white city buses, with the psychotic driver and rows of oppressed citizens inside. A bus ride that goes nowhere fast.

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The Moroccan nightclub - Acrylic on Canvas 120cm x 90cm

Another painting of evil gingerbread men. This is the Indonesian heroin dealer and the Moroccan nightclub owner, bumping into each other. They co-exist in a "your last shipment was cut" or "you got the money you owe me?" kind of way. Hence, pulling a gun on each other is a standard practice in the murky, international muslim underworld.

The Temporary Driver - Acrylic on Canvas 120cm x 90cm

The regular propane truck driver is sick with dengue fever. So he sends for his wife's young cousin from Kerala to make the rounds. Despite driving the rig well, smoking a spliff while transferring propane from tank to tank is one way to end a very short career in the indian trucking industry.

The Queue - Acrylic on Canvas 120cm x 90cm

Indians have a different - some would say total lack of - sense of personal space. As for queuing in an orderly fashion, forget it. The person behind the counter doesn't care. So it's  push and shove your way to the front with everyone else like some desperate peasant fighting for free milk. This is the queue for medical blood test results at Manipal Hospital in Bangalore.

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Indian Domestic Services - a trilogy of shame
1. The Dishonest House Maid - Acrylic on Canvas 90cm x 120cm

Being an expat in Bangalore, you usually hire some help around the house. More often than not there's a multitude of trivial reasons to fire them and 'get someone else'. Here, the housemaid is caught in that decisive moment, crossing the line and lifting a dollar she 'found' while sweeping.

2. The Rat Catcher - Acrylic on Canvas 90cm x 120cm

Rats live in every city on Earth. Bangalore included. This guy was called in by building management to kill the rat in apartment 408. It took 3 days, and he charged for 3 days.

3. The Toilet Plumber - Acrylic on Canvas 90cm x 120cm

Another guy sent from building management in Bangalore. No big story here, just a leaking, turd-blocked toilet to fix. Again. He carries the omni-present, rusty F wrench. It's only purpose, to identify him as The Toilet Plumber. 

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Somalians - Acrylic on Canvas 120cm x 90cm

I've been to Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda, but not Somalia. Who the fuck wants to go to Somalia? I did a Google search and in a lot of photos, this is what the place looked like. Gangs of grinning, coke-crazed, trigger-happy lunatics in Toyotas loaded with AK-47s, M-50s and RPGs. Hopelessly lawless and dangerously insane. I'll paint them from a safe distance.

Taliban fighter, Afghanistan - Acrylic on Canvas 120cm x 90cm

This Afghani-Taliban fighter has just taken out a US Marines helicopter with his RPG. A weapon the CIA supplied the mujahidin with, to take out Soviet helicopter gunships during their failed invasion of Afghanistan. When you look at the long history of failed invasions of Afghanistan, it's little wonder they now take out US helicopters with US made weapons. An ironic, yet predictable example of what goes around, comes around.

The Arabs barbecue - Acrylic on Canvas 90cm x 120cm

This could be Dubai or Bahrain. Just a few of the boys barbecuing some imported steaks and drinking cold imported beer in the stifling 40 degree heat and humidity. Their conversation would be about real estate, oil prices, Russian girls or Mercedes Benz, but as the afternoon wears on, be sprinkled with a liberal dose of bravado and innuendo.

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Escape from the KKK - Acrylic on Canvas 120cm x 90cm

A scene from 1950's Hicksville USA when the Ku Klux Klan roamed around the Baptist Belt of the Southern states, lynching blacks for no good reason at all. Here, the tables have been turned. The brother has a 38 revolver. He may be out-numbered but is going to shoot his way out of this one.

Lang Hancock - Acrylic on Canvas 120cm x 90cm

A portrait of the imposing West Australian mining magnate. Lang's dead now, but in his heyday between the 50's and 80's he was larger than life. Lang had some personality and a larger than life wife too, the notorious Rose who spent most of her time talking to the media and appearing on TV. Some have said that Lang just got on with it and didn't care too much with things like, say, indigenous land rights, but these were the good ol' days when a handshake would seal a deal. 

Please buy my intestines - Acrylic on Canvas 120cm x 90cm

Another southern Indian muslim guy. i saw him in some local meat market in Bangalore, offering a string of paradise spiced cow gut sausage, with a generous serve of heavenly desperation. Notice the boning knife, at the ready. A defense against any outraged Hindu his grisly wares may offend.

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Beijing Embassy Guard - Acrylic on Canvas 120cm x 90cm

Every embassy in Beijing has a detail of disciplined, inscrutable military guards posted outside. They stand at attention, sharp and rigid, every day, hot or cold, day and night. Strong and incorruptible. Beijing also has a lot beautiful women, so you wonder sometimes if these guards find them at all distracting.

Do Not Urine Here - Acrylic on Canvas 120cm x 90cm

Bangalore has a lot of government and military bases in quiet, cleaner streets, that are surrounded by big walls and barbed wire. Perfect place for the auto-rickshaw driver to take a leak. Being a muslim, this guy probably can't read english, and if he did, he'd ignore it anyway, preferring to quietly piss on anything belonging to the Indian government.

Netas Ambassador - Acrylic on Canvas 120cm x 90cm

The Hindustan Motors Ambassador has long been the choice of indian politicians and is an icon of India. Indian politicians though, rarely achieve icon status. Unless they are assassinated. Probably why their Ambassadors now have black-tinted windows. So the Netas can sit in the back, unrecognized in self-absorbed loathing and contempt. Dark and unseen.

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Arrested in Texas - Acrylic on Canvas 120cm x 90cm

A fairly typical scene from the highways of America. Just like those real-life cop shows, where nearly every 'suspect' the white highway cops chase, is a black guy, out-numbered usually two to one. Notice the genetic differences between the arresting highway patrol officers and the suspect.

Preeti the Silly Schoolgirl - Acrylic on Canvas 90cm x 120cm

Indian schoolgirls are little living monuments to the 1950s. Victims of unchanged dress codes: sad, over-szed uniforms and thick braided hair. Preeti will go on to have an arranged marriage and keep her family happy. But that's of little consequence now, when dealing with the small, annoying traumas that almost define daily life in India.

Indian Truck Welder - Acrylic on Canvas 120cm x 90cm

I saw this scene in Bangalore one hot day: some guy, casually standing there, arc-welding the front of a ubiquitous Indian truck, on the side of the road. No welding goggles. No shoes. No care. I wonder if he drove the truck home that night. With big blue and white spots before his eyes.