Velho vira caricatura (Old Man Becomes Caricature)

"Velho vira caricatura (Old Man Becomes Caricature) from 1993 is part of a series of self-portraits which Iberê painted during the last years of his life. Caricature is the risk inherent to all expressionist vision, for it arises even as forms are observed and understood as signs which need to be interpreted. Without a doubt, Camargo regarded old age as the most extreme form of tyranny imposed by time. Time, which dimmed his external brilliance, leaving – as in the portrait of Dorian Gray – the suffering of man’s soul exposed, his vices and deepest contradictions: the old man as a pathetic mask. Far from being merciless, these portraits are a kind of parody of catharsis in their ability to laugh at themselves. [...]"
María José Herrera, Iberê Camargo: um ensaio visual (Porto Alegre: Fundação Iberê Camargo, 2009), 100.