I'm all about whimsy, and Noir Nouar's work is as well. But there's an edge to the whimsy and a darkness and a danger, which makes her work all the more interesting, and the perfect choice for Art Wednesday.
from Escape Into Life:
Noir Nouar is a dark haired girl, with dark subliminal meanings and jolly palatable paintings. For example, you might think a robust shiny tomato lady is an enticing marketing icon; but three eager worms approach, their phallus shaped noses glowing red with excitement. A Bob’s Big Boy cameo also fits nicely in the genre of American advertising. But in the nude, he is a blatantly repulsive mascot for Fatty Happy Lard.
This is the precarious imagery that Nouar delivers in neat packaging, awaiting responses of repugnancy and giggles. She explores the nuances of food advertising, desire, anxiety, and good ol’ American tradition in all the glory of genetically engineered produce and milk fed veal. The contradiction between Nouar’s nauseatingly cheery characters and their imminent slaughter is at once silly and disquieting, a dilemma that has divided vegans, vegetarians, and meat eaters for all time.
