Male and Female Goats

Male and Female Goats (Cabrit i cabrida) belongs to a series of paintings whose theme revolves around the representation of hung or sacrificed animals, such as Le Bal des pendus and Blanc de zinc, Blanc de plom. As in the latter works, one can observe influences not only from the still lifes with hanging fruits by the Spaniard Juan Sánchez Cotán, but also from those of the Renaissance and Baroque periods, as well as Dutch and Flemish paintings, such as the skinned animals by Rembrandt. At the same time, this painting is a reference to daily life in the countries of sub-Saharan Africa, with their markets full of hanging animals, which suggest death and rot rather than food. Just as the still lifes of the Renaissance and Baroque periods can be read as allegories to the passage of time, these paintings, based on Barceló's knowledge of the precariousness of life in sub-Saharan Africa, can be read more as emblems of the fragility of the new African states, where the problem is not realizing that life passes quickly, but managing to subsist on a daily basis. Even so, Barceló distances himself from all of the above in order to give these works a celebratory air, of animist ritual, which can lead us to metaphysical reflections: everything that is alive will decompose, but will be born again.