FROM THE ESTATE OF DR. EDMUND P. PILLSBURY. EL FRANCO LEE II (American, b. 1979). Superdome, 2006. Acrylic on canvas. ...

Description

FROM THE ESTATE OF DR. EDMUND P. PILLSBURY

EL FRANCO LEE II (American, b. 1979)
Superdome, 2006
Acrylic on canvas
30 x 40 inches (76.2 x 101.6 cm)
Signed lower right and signed, titled and dated on the reverse

EXHIBITED:
Dallas, Angstrom Gallery, June 2008
Houston, G Gallery, October 2008

NOTE:
We are grateful to Mr. El Franco Lee II for providing information that assisted in the cataloguing of this work.

The son of a Houston County Commissioner and nephew of a Black Panther, Houston-based painter El Franco Lee II has, as one writer noted, "both politics and protest in his blood." Calling his style "Urban Mannerist Pop Art," Lee makes paintings that could be mistaken for cheerful at first glance - until you get past the bright colors and see the tragedy and injustice they depict. In Superdome, Lee's subject is not the initial "natural" tragedy of Hurricane Katrina with its floodwaters, the drownings, and the displacement of thousands. Rather, his subject is the inhuman response to the natural catastrophe--death, torture and violence-which was reported in the New Orleans Superdome, site of a temporary shelter for Katrina's homeless.

According to Ted Pillsbury's former executive assistant, Ted was absolutely thrilled to have acquired this painting by the University of Houston and Yale-trained Lee. Ted could be fearless when it came to the iconography of the contemporary art he collected, and did not shy away from the tough or controversial imagery and content. Ted's assistant recalls he brought this painting proudly into his office, which startled and even offended some of the co-workers. But he never removed it because he thought it was powerful statement.




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