Prickly Pear Pinups: A Series Full of Love

Dick Van der Wurst on January 26, 2023

2022 was wild for me. We came out of the pandemic just in time for me to find myself with a surgically repaired knee, turning 50 and single for the first time since 1985.

I had 6 colonoscopies, 2 stays in the hospital that left me seriously anemic, a vasectomy, a break up, coVid, and almost bought a house in Illinois with a new lady but it didn’t work out.

I also had an art show and created 13 new pieces for it. Among them were three pieces that were a culmination of an idea I had for a while but didn’t know what to do with.

I Love to Fish painting of a woman in a cactus fishing with a heart shaped lure sitting in a prickly pear cactus growing out of a Fred's Fish Fry Cup
I Love To Fish
Nacho Hollarback Girl painting of a girl in a prickly pear cactus growing out of a rico cheese can with skulls wearing top hats
Nacho Hollaback Girl
Best Maid Plans of Mice and Men painting of a lady in a prickly pear cactus growing out of a pickle jar
The Best Maid Plans of Mice and Men
I Can’t Remember the Alamo

For a few years I knew I wanted to do something with pinup girls posing in, around, and on prickly pear cactuses, but I needed something else, another layer, a special Dick Van Der Wurst Lowbrow Pop Art twist. That started to come into view as I considered what the cactuses might be growing out of. Containers, cans, cups, buildings and brands that are uniquely San Antonio, to go with the women I was deciding to use for my pinups…also uniquely San Antonio. Especially since I had been going through the San Antonio dating ringer for the previous 6 months.

  1. San Antonio women love to fish
  2. San Antonio women are spicy
  3. San Antonio women have their own agendas
  4. San Antonio women can drink

Now, it is important to note that none of these “revelations” are criticisms…except maybe the fishing part. I don’t get that… and although they may be broad generalizations, they reflect my experience with the limited number I encountered across various races and ethnicities…again except the fishing part. I swear they all say they love to fish.

But the result gets my delicate beauties nestled in the hostile embrace of prickly pear pads…a plant that represents so much of the environment and culture. Food, medicine, feed for livestock, beauty all within a rugged plant that can damn near survive anything as long as it’s hot enough. I love all that prickly pear represents about the people, the history and the very climate itself.

Shit Still Stinks and Pigs Can’t Fly: how to hope for the impossible.

Dick Van der Wurst on October 1, 2019

I’m not sure how it got there exactly, but this phrase bounced around in my head for 20 years, from sketchbook to sketchbook and eventually into iPhone notes and various electronic lists of ideas. It hung around waiting for me to explore it adequately. I just never seemed to find a way to get it into a visual that I wanted to make. I believe my creativity was inhibited by The Rectangle and the idea of representing “shit” too literally. Eventually my layered, cutouts materialized and I was inspired.

Pigs can’t fly is a reminder for those hoping for the impossible, for the belief in fantasy…or even those who are distracted by the escapism of fantasy.

Wikipedia says:

“When pigs fly” is a way of saying that something will never happen. The phrase is often used for humorous effect, to scoff at over-ambition. Other variations on the phrase include “And pigs will fly,” this one in retort to an outlandish statement.

Shit still stinks: for those who may think that reality can be ignored…needing to be slapped back into reality.

The idea of a pig head flanked by outhouses hit me first. Rather than representing shit literally, I could allude to it with the outhouses and overcome much of what kept me from knowing how to deliver this idea. Then the clouds to tie them together, rounded out with a sun disk behind a bird to represent the aspirations of swinish flight. The flies and severed head on a stick hit me last as the piece came together, hinting at the disturbing themes from the book “Lord of the Flies.”

This is definitely one of the more interesting journeys an idea of mine has taken from conception in the 90s, to execution some 20 years later. Once a couple of things occurred to me, the ball got rolling towards a state of completion I never could have anticipated or hastened. It isn’t a pretty piece and few find any reason to look at it long enough to draw conclusions of their own about what it. And yet, I think it is one of my favorite pieces and represents so much of my growth and change from young adulthood to middle age.

Check it out in the portfolio!

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Nihilism and Nanner Pudding: A Popular Favorite

Dick Van der Wurst on July 5, 2014

2014 • 54.75″ x 31″
acrylic, spray paint on used fence pickets

The whole idea behind the concept of making paintings that highlight our use of food and the celebrations they’re tied to as a distraction to our existential angst came from a comment I made about art shows being essentially a “self doubt and cheese cubes” scene. So as I continue this series it is only fitting that I name my solo shows the same way.

My point of view often borders on the nihilistic, and this attitude often informs much of what motivates me to create imagery. That a show of mine would feature a heavy dose of this outlook is a safe bet and since this major work featured banana pudding, I knew I should serve some at the reception of the June, 2014 Moe Profane solo exhibition at Redbud in Houston.

Here we see the sad emo kid perked up a bit at the promise of some homemade nanner puddin. On his shirt is a fitting banana related nihilistic assertion credited to Mark Ruffalo describing acting.

This painting was sold and moved to New Orleans by its owner where it currently hangs proudly in her home.

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schadenfreude and shiner bock painting by moe profane

Schadenfreude and Shiner Bock: A Big, Weird, Daring Idea

Dick Van der Wurst on July 4, 2014

2014 • 31.25″ x 55.5″
acrylic, spray paint on used fence pickets

Schadenfreude is a German expression meaning “to take pleasure in the misfortune of others.” You see three characters:

  • The hapless victim who is too caught up in feeling sorry for himself to fix the situation
  • The jerk who is satisfied and amused by the greater status he was able, with no effort of his own, to achieved relative to that of his friend
  • The opportunistic ram who takes advantage while the others are distracted

The audience can related to the feelings of both individuals in the piece. You can learn a lot about yourself by recognizing how you empathize with the one and relate to the satisfaction of the other. We’re all guilty of playing the victim roll and also enjoying the mishaps of others. This is what my work is meant to do, to make us aware of our motivations and influencers so we can learn to see them for what they are and take back control.

This piece was a bit of a hit. Those who got it, liked it a lot but it was probably too weird and oddly painted to connect with anyone on a level to inspire a purchase. Never mind how big it was. I destroyed it and it has been incorporated in other smaller pieces, scattered and covered up and spread out around South Texas. I will revisit this though someday and do it up right. With my new style of cutout layering of the fence pickets.

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Nintendo Thumb Painting by Moe Profane

Nintendo Thumb: Searing Pain, Sensational Fun

Dick Van der Wurst on July 3, 2014

2014 • 17.5″ x 36.5″
acrylic, spray paint on used fence pickets

There was once going to be a “gamer” themed group show at a relatively well known gallery in San Antonio. I was creating this when I found out it was going to be moved to a grungy independent coffee shop/art studio/gallery in an “emerging neighborhood”. I bowed out, not wanting to do group shows in coffee shops at this point in my career.

Still, I was stuck with this piece, a bit of a departure from my usual work. I like it though. Any GenXer like me can relate to the feeling of bruised thumbnails from pounding that old school Nintendo controller too hard, for too long.

This is one of my favorite pieces because it evokes to those who know, a very distinct feeling and memory of our GenX childhood. I sold it for a song to a guy in Houston, who has since married and probably forced by his wife to pitch it.

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Tejano: Polka Moe Profane Relativist Pop Art Painting

Tejano: Polka (The Colorful Combination of Cultures)

Dick Van der Wurst on June 29, 2014

2014 • 34″ x 17.5″
acrylic, spray paint on used fence pickets

Before coming to the San Antonio, I hadn’t known of the German culture here and in the Hill Country, much less the mixture of Texan, Mexican and German that I understand is part of what is loosely referred to as Tejano. Being of German decent, I fixated mostly on the polka beat and accordion heard in the folk music of this area, reflecting the 19th century German influence in this part of Texas.

Here I combined a German symbol, the fat polka accordionist, with one of the distinguishing characteristics of the Mexican voodoo holiday of Dia de los Muertos. He leans back, squeezing out a happy tune on his Mexican flavored piano accordion.

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Tejano: Heidi (Colorful Cultural Misappropriation, Boobs, and Beer)

Dick Van der Wurst on June 29, 2014

2014 • 34″ x 17.5″
acrylic, spray paint on used fence pickets

Before coming to the San Antonio, I hadn’t known of the German culture here and in the Hill Country, much less the mixture of Texan, Mexican and German that I understand is part of what is loosely referred to as Tejano. Being of German decent, I fixated mostly on the polka beat and accordion heard in the folk music of this area, reflecting the 19th century German influence in this part of Texas.

Here I combined a German symbol, the beer wench, with one of the distinguishing characteristics of the Mexican voodoo holiday of Dia de los Muertos. She presents an arm load of Micheladas, a Mexican prepared beer made with lime juice, and assorted sauces, spices, and peppers.

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Tejano: Gnomo Relativist Pop Art Painting by Moe Profane

Tejano: Gnomo (The Miracle of Merging Magical Motifs)

Dick Van der Wurst on June 29, 2014

2014 • 34″ x 17.5″
acrylic, spray paint on used fence pickets

Before coming to the San Antonio, I hadn’t known of the German culture here and in the Hill Country, much less the mixture of Texan, Mexican and German that I understand is part of what is loosely referred to as Tejano. Being of German decent, I fixated mostly on the polka beat and accordion heard in the folk music of this area reflecting the 19th century German influence in this part of Texas.

Here I combined a German symbol, the gnome, with one of the distinguishing characteristics of the Mexican voodoo holiday of Dia de los Muertos. Proudly he sits on a stump boldly telling us who and what he is.

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Blue Boy: A Promising Pop Art Perspective

Dick Van der Wurst on June 29, 2014

2014 • 46.75″ x 17.5″
acrylic, spray paint on used fence pickets

(After the portrait of Jonathan Buttall by Thomas Gainsborough)

I loved the way the paintings and sculptures of the boy in the blue suit and the girl in the pink dress had a pop culture name of “Blue Boy” and “Pinkie.” We all remember seeing them in the beds and baths of our friends’ mothers, but none of us remember them having any impression other than an un-articulated feeling about their mothers’ bad taste. Later, when I found out everyone had similar experiences, it was great fun. I always wonder though…who among the people I meet today are the children of such women, or do they themselves have representations of these long dead children in their master bedrooms?

Wikipedia says:

The Blue Boy (c. 1770) is a full-length portrait in oil by Thomas Gainsborough, now in the Huntington Library, San Marino, California.[1] Perhaps Gainsborough’s most famous work, it is thought to be a portrait of Jonathan Buttall (1752–1805), the son of a wealthy hardware merchant, although this has never been proven. It is a historical costume study as well as a portrait: the youth in his 17th-century apparel is regarded as Gainsborough’s homage to Anthony van Dyck, and in particular is very close to Van Dyck’s portrait of Charles II as a boy.

PInkie and Blue Boy

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Pinkie: Relativist Pop Art Paining by Moe Profane

Pinkie: A Powerful Pop Art Portrayal Of A Historical Piece

Dick Van der Wurst on June 29, 2014

2014 • 46.75″ x 17.5″
acrylic, spray paint on used fence pickets

(After the portrait of Sarah Barrett Moulton by Thomas Lawrence)

I loved the way the paintings and sculptures of the boy in the blue suit and the girl in the pink dress had a pop culture name of “Blue Boy” and “Pinkie.” Growing up, I remember seeing them in the sleeping quarters and powder rooms of women of a certain age, but none of us remember them having any impression other than an un-articulated feeling about those women’s poor taste. Later, when I found out everyone had similar experiences, it was great fun discovering just how famous these images were. I always wonder though…who among the people I meet today are the children of such women, or do they themselves have representations of these long dead children in their master bedrooms?

Wikipedia says:

Pinkie is the traditional title for a portrait of 1794 by Thomas Lawrence in the permanent collection of the Huntington Library at San Marino, California where it hangs opposite The Blue Boy by Thomas Gainsborough. The title now given it by the museum is Sarah Barrett Moulton: Pinkie.

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