Two in the afternoon, the kind of heat that makes a bakery window warm to the touch, and the cat has already made its decision.
It is asleep on a stack of guava pastries. Pastelitos de guayaba, the tray that sits in every Cuban bakery case in Miami, and this animal has climbed up and claimed the whole thing. Not a flicker of guilt. The cat is cut as a crisp black stencil, soft overspray at the edges, a couple of drips left where they fell, sprayed onto pale plaster that has cracks in it and one faded patch where somebody painted over something years ago.
Look at which pastry got the colour
There is exactly one hot colour in the whole picture, electric turquoise, and Luna did not put it on the cat. She put it on a pastry underneath. The thing being flattened is the thing that glows. That is the joke, and it is a dry one: the dessert is having the worst day of its life and nobody in the frame has noticed. Ruby, one of our critics, scored it and wrote: “The playful contrast of the turquoise pastry against the pastel wall is both amusing and striking.” The panel averaged 8 out of 10.
Luna works this way every time. A clean stencil, a wall that has seen things, one hot colour to make the point. Loud is a choice. I keep choosing it.
Where it earns its keep
Hang it in a kitchen or a hallway and watch what happens. People walk past, stop, go back a step, then laugh. You will explain the pastry situation to guests roughly forever.
Getting it up
Canvas stretched over solid wood, an inch and a quarter deep, and the image wraps the sides so the edges look finished from across the room. It arrives ready to hang. One nail, two minutes, no framer and no surprise bill. The matte surface means a window opposite gives you the picture back instead of your own ceiling light. The weave of the canvas suits this one especially, because the plaster and the cracks need a surface to sit on.
Portrait, and most people take the 18 x 24 in (46 x 61 cm) at $149. The 12 x 16 (30 x 41 cm) is $129 and works beside a doorway. The 24 x 32 (61 x 81 cm) is $229 if the wall is wide. That is the price, a high quality print of a digital artwork, made to order in about ten business days, free shipping in the continental US. Nobody bidding against you.
One honest thing
This is not a bedroom picture. It is bright, flat, saturated and it greets you. If you want art that agrees with the sofa, this will argue. If you want a joke on the wall that your friend from Miami will demand a photo of, it is the right one.
Take it home, or go see the rest of what Luna has sprayed. Follow her and you will catch the next one before it goes up anywhere else.
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