I’m thinking a lot of about colonies within colonies, empires within empires. This painting is part of a new series I’m calling “Mobile Empire”. They are all renderings of beehives from Lüneburg, Germany. This particular face is called “Heidermadona”, or “Madonna”. Swipe to see the reference photo from the brilliant book “Hives, 2400 B.C.E.–1852 C.E” by Aladin Borili and Ellen Lapper. This hive and other similar ones were sculptured into spiritual faces meant to ward of evil and diseases. I am considering the beehive as a model for the Protestant work ethic and capitalism. At the same time, due to their object-size in relation to a human, they are mobile and thus vulnerable. If the viewer looks at this painting with the light, they will be able to see through the beehive where a powerful, iconic, and generic cowboy is seen riding his horse. His strong silhouette is in constant competition with primal flora where helicopters are shrunk to the same size of bees, all buzzing around, looking for valuables—nectar or villages—amidst the feral verdure. @lehmannmaupin Booth C17 @friezeofficial #friezeseoul