‘Red White n Bluebeard’ – an Icon of Tyranny

Red White n Bluebeard (acrylic mediums and oil pastel on wood)      SOLD

Red White n Bluebeard is a painting  created during the first presidential campaign of Teflon Don of the Wild Rumpus. It is based on the folk story of Bluebeard, a cautionary tale for wives who dare to disobey their husbands, from the days when women were considered little more than property. Sadly, this is still the case in many countries, daughters are basically sold off to the highest bidder. Imagine the fear, not knowing what awaits, whether your new husband, often a complete stranger, will be kind or a demon. (It’s how new pets feel, too).

detail

Bluebeard is a magician of sorts, he gives his new bride a set of keys, upon leaving for a voyage, telling her open any door except one. Of course curiosity gets the better of her, and she discovers hanging in the forbidden room are the bloody corpses of his 6 previous wives. And the enchanted key is now permanently bloodstained. Innocence forever lost, forbidden knowledge akin to death. Fortunately her brothers end up arriving just in the nick of time to kill Bluebeard before he can make her number 7.

Red White n Bluebeard (different light/with frame)                                          SOLD

Acrylic mediums and oil pastel on wood, set in an authentic, hand cut, antique folk wooden frame all the way from 1930s Poland. SIZE: about 15 x 20 inches.

With frame, colours in natural lighting…

The painting is not a portrait of the (soon to once again be) president, but rather a personification or allegory of the rage and racism that had begun rearing it’s ugly head in the US – permissible and encouraged – during his rise to power. The figure wears a mask that has become melded with his face. He both hates and fears the screaming people caught in his red white n blue beard. Inspiration was drawn from the contorted victims in Picasso’s Guernica, to illustrate those without rights or power, caught in the hairy flames and begging for mercy.

detail

Recently, Rumpus has made ‘jokes’ about Canada entering into an arranged marriage, shall we say, with the US, which I won’t repeat here. Many have noted his characteristic, tactical trolling, bullying, belittling. But it is also a form of hexing. Rumps is a magician skilled in word sorcery (Gemini Sun/Uranus). He well understands that all that is required is for a thorny little seed or egg to be planted in the collective mind, hypnotically repeated as a command to the subconscious, and it will grow there like a parasite until it bears ugly fruit. Rather like that frienemy who casually insinuates your spouse might be cheating. (How interesting his new health minister literally had a brain worm). This is how subliminal advertising has always worked, and he is a walking advertisement, set to (once again) head TV Nation. Don’t buy it, Canada. You know what’s behind that door.

All content except BEK cartoon is ©copyright Roxanna Bikadoroff and may not be reused without my permission. Please share via LINK or if using a pull quote, please credit and link. Thank you.

‘I Will Choose’ Empowered Eve free to use for non-profit

strong woman holding her own rib up like horns
Take your rib and …

This iconic image was created for The Progressive Magazine’s calendar in 1992 (beautifully designed each year by Patrick JB Flynn). It illustrated this quote by Marge Piercy:

I will choose what enters me, what becomes
flesh of my flesh. Without choice, no politics,
no ethics lives. I am not your cornfield,
not your uranium mine, not your calf
for fattening, not your cow for milking.

You may not use me as your factory.
Priests and legislators do not hold
shares in my womb or my mind.

This is my body. If I give it to you
I want it back. My life

is a non-negotiable demand.

Original t-shirts for The Progressive, 1990s

I’m now making this image FREE to use for non-profit, pro-choice organizations to fundraise for supporting women being denied their basic, human rights. Personal use is also fine. Adding/tweaking colour is fine.
The opening image is a high res (300 dpi) jpg. Click on it, pause the slide show, and lift the image onto your desktop.

The image may not be used freely for personal or corporate profit, advertising, or other commercial exploits.

Examples of permissible use (copyright free) :

– pro-choice t-shirts, prints, posters, stickers, etc to fundraise
– public mural
– tattoo

– small run of T-shirts/product for you and your friends
– a nice print for yourself or a gift
– signs for pro-choice rallies

Any for-profit, commercial use that does not donate the profits to such organizations will still require my permission and a negotiated contract/usage fee, as is usual for re-use of my work i.e. if you want to use it on an album or book cover and keep the coinage, please contact me to discuss terms.

*Note that the original quote is not included, so please clear with Marge Piercy and/or her publisher for any use other than personal. (Alternatively, one could just put something simple like CHOICE or I WILL CHOOSE, or go wordless).*