When It Rains

I have painted various versions of the Morton Salt Girl over the years since 2003. The most recent apparition is in a Mexican Loteria painting titled "app 2 b in bliss" where the iconic logo is walking in the background. A more popular version is "app 4 mexibiculturalizing" where an image of the Mexican artist/painter Frida Kahlo carries her iPad and replaces the traditional Morton Salt Girl. Her umbrella protects her from pouring words (actually, they are apps!) instead of rain.

Frida Kahlo

composite image of Frida Kahlo, the Salt Girl, social media logos including Google +, Facebook, youtube, and Twitter, and punchy colors.
" app 4 mexibiculturalizing "
acrylic, pencils, ink, & oil on paper
24 x 18 in © 2011 Gabriel Navar

The Frida-Salt-Girl painting, "app 4 Mexibiculturalizing", is part of my ongoing "app(lications)" series where I explore and invent (often in a whimsical way) the notion of how there seems to be an app for just about everything, available at our fingertips through our technological toys and gadgets. It came about because I have not only painted other versions of the Morton Salt Girl over the years (since 2003), but also re-configurations of Frida and her work. Somehow, subconsciously I think, I decided to create a composite of them both and decided to speak about biculturalism and its blessings (in fact, there is a poem, "Oh, Those Goosebumps (An Ode To Bicultural Blessings)", and related to the concept of Mexican-Americanism.

The Frida-Salt-Girl painting involves popular, recognizable imagery (and this appeals to me... perhaps because I am a student of Mel Ramos, the famous Pop Artist): Frida, the Salt Girl, the social media logos (including Google +, Facebook, youtube, and Twitter), and "punchy" colors. The entire painting is "framed" to mimic and serve as a parody of a "smart" gadget complete with the social media buttons (for quick and easy access) as well as a reference to time (2:39), a string of numbers that I dreamt about more than twice and that has specific significance for me (I don't know yet what it actually means, but I am paying attention). Frida is walking and holds an iPad that displays a Mexican flag (bicultural pride and awareness!!).

selfie with rain

image of lady inspired by the Morton Salt logo
" selfie with rain "
acrylic, pencils, ink, & oil on canvas board
20 x 16 in © 2014 Gabriel Navar

Playa

logo girl from Morton Salt walking in the beach holding her purple umbrella
" Playa "
acrylic & oil on paper
30 x 22 in © 2002 Gabriel Navar

Rainfall Fun

woman horrified while viewing her android phone while holding umbrella
"app 4 rainfall fun"
acrylic, pencils, ink, & oil on paper
24 x 18 in © 2013 Gabriel Navar

app 4 multigenerational blessings

image of girl inspired by the Morton Salt logo carrying her etch-a-sketch while standing on a pinterest button
" app 4 multigenerational blessings "
acrylic, pencils, ink, & oil on board
25 x 22 in © 2012 Gabriel Navar

Astilla

image based on the Morton Salt girl logo of a girl with a skull instead of a face with her umbrella on fire
" Astilla "
acrylic & oil on wood
14 1/2 x 9 1/4 in © 2003 Gabriel Navar

Diluvios

image inspired by the Morton Salt girl logo of a female dressed in yellow
" Diluvios "
acrylic & oil on wood
33 1/4 x 20 in © 2003 Gabriel Navar

On The Run

painting on stacked wood with composite images and words including the girl from the morton salt logo, Osama Bin Laden and an open gate
" On The Run "
acrylic & oil on wood
27 1/8 x 56 1/2 in © 2004 Gabriel Navar

Cielo Negro

woman getting mail out of the mailbox while the girl from the Morton Salt logo walks under a dark sky
" Cielo Negro "
acrylic & oil on canvas
24 x 18 in in © 2003 Gabriel Navar

Refresca

painting on wood depicting a computer monitor using photoshop including the images from the Morton Salt logo, a red rooster and a thinking man
" Refresca "
acrylic & oil on wood
12 x 9 in © 2003 Gabriel Navar

Agua

painting on wood of fragmented images of the Morton Salt logo, Chac Mool and St. Francis of Assisi
" Agua "
acrylic & oil on wood
36 x 13 1/2 in © 2002 Gabriel Navar

When It Rains It Pours

painting inspired by the Morton Salt girl logo depicting a girl, with a death mask, walking under a rain of fire, her umbrella on fire and ghostly writing of stop war now
" When It Rains It Pours "
acrylic, pencils, ink, & oil on board
25 x 22 in © 2003 Gabriel Navar

Mmm... Invierno

image of woman holding a Ring-necked Dove dove while a ghostly girl inspired by the Morton Salt girl logo walks in the background
" Mmm... Invierno "
acrylic, pencils, ink & oil on board
25 x 22 in © 2003 Gabriel Navar

app 2 b in bliss

image number 25 from the Mexican Loteria: el borracho - the drunk
" app 2 b in bliss "
(card number 25, "el borracho")
acrylic, pencils, ink, & oil on paper
24 x 18 in © 2012 Gabriel Navar

The main character is a screaming man holding his smart phone over his head towards the sky wearing a t-shirt with the image of "el borracho" (the drunk) from the Mexican Loteria. Is the "drunk" reference a sort of metaphor for self-medicating "escapism" in the context of potential "doomsday" paranoia? In the background is the little girl from the Morton Salt walking minding her own business. I am inspired by the iconic vivid imagery from the Mexican Loteria. You can see more of those images in the "Mexican Loteria" page.

T-Shirt

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Painting Galleries

Visit my Painting Galleries: For over twenty years, image-making for me has been a passion and avenue for exploring experiences, dreams and preoccupations, including issues of our dependence on technology, consumer culture, relationships, spirituality, politics, and the human "theatre". The paintings are arranged into different galleries, grouped, chronologically (the earliest from 1993 and spanning into the present) and "themes", especially when I find myself working in a series of paintings inspired from my life experiences, memories, nostalgia and personal interest, for example multi-generational, cross-cultural, popular consumer-based iconography and imagery, such as Chespirito, the Morton Salt Girl, muppets from Sesame Street, the Mexican Loteria, and Art History Homages.