I didn’t realize that paintings could be punk rock until I saw the work of Francis Bacon. When I see something like Study for Portrait VI, I get the same sense of menace and terrible beauty that I got when I first heard the Sex Pistols.
Bacon’s work is made more menacing and thrilling by its timelessness. We know that punk rock music emerged in the late Seventies, we can pin down when it was that Johnny Rotten sang(?) “God Save the Queen” with a sardonic sneer. With Bacon? Not so much. He shares his name with Sir Francis Bacon, the noted philosopher and scientist of several hundred years ago, and the confusion works to the art enthusiast’s benefit. Francis Bacon—no “Sir”—was of the 20th century, but the figures in his painting could be grotesque, horrifying man-monsters from a thousand years ago or today, something beastly and oft-disguised that has been there all along but which we choose not to think about until Bacon reminds us.
Study for Portrait VI is yet more haunting because of the questions it raises: Is the guy on a bed or a throne or what? What’s that cube back there all about? And what’s up with the weird fez?
I like art that scares me. I tend to get attached to paintings that threaten to jump out of their frames, beat me up, and burn down the other exhibits. Bacon’s is a little bit of “Anarchy in the MIA.”
John Moe is the host of The Hilarious World of Depression, a podcast produced by American Public Media.
Art Inspires is a series of essays by artists, writers, and other cultural leaders on inspiring art at Mia. Read more here.
