Michele Mikesell Bread and Circus

Time Lapse construction and introduction of 10 new pieces titled Bread and Circus. Featuring the music of D'uo Del Sol. Available thru Chiaroscuro Gallery Sante fe, NM.

Artist Statement:

In these 10 paintings I have returned to my favorite subject which is the Circus. Specifically a quote by the Roman write Juvenal 1st century in reference to the Roman Government staging elaborate spectacles and passing out food in order to pacify the general public.

"Two things only the people anxiously desire — bread and circuses."

Bread and Circus has since become a general term for government policies that seek short-term solutions to public unrest.

Irony, contradiction, humor and tragedy, have been continued themes in my work and are illustrated not only within the image, but within the actual paint and surface of the painting. These Paintings illustrate a profound departure from animal iconography that I have used in the past to discuss human ideas with animal instinct. Technically these paintings are also a departure from what I have previously been doing with the surfaces by allowing the paint to sit on the surface where it become a narrative character in the subject of the painting. Although these paintings sit under a banner of Government dissension, I continue to feel that I am speaking to the individual viewer on the subject of the universal human experience. I continue to hope that I create individuals and circumstances we can all relate to and stories we're all interested in.

*Some of the titles of the paintings are taken from historical circus vernacular as follows,




Tackspitter -one who posted circus bills.
The Chandelier -head of lighting
Softlot - a muddy circus lot
Tawni - small

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