Michael Cano | Small Primates Suite of Paintings | Photos and Pricing Info

The primates are not necessarily early mammals, but more like early men who defy scientific classification. They are not quite evolved men. In the next phase from Retired Aztec Boxers, these small primates are in the act of becoming. We are unclear what that is . Like the Aztec Boxers, there is a gentleness to these primates or at the very least a magnetic charm to them.

The characteristics of these almost men share flat noses, undefined lips and robotic eyes. There is a sense they are trapped in their evolutionary status, hoping to get to the next age. As ever, even though the faces are primitive the skills are not. With an exquisite  neon color sense, their mesmerizing gaze is the sum of the parts of the small primates. Their personalities  are imbued with a sense of life, prehistoric as they may be.

In all of his work, there is a narrative of becoming not just human, but more human. For the artist, I think that is an interesting struggle . In the world of constructs that includes what it means to be a man, what it means to evolve, the male gaze as evinced in the me- too generation, I think Cano is making a statement on where men are on the evolutionary scale. I believe his suite of paintings, continues his search for fully realized beings and leans into what could be the next grouping. So maybe the viewer can think of this group as coming from a period like the Devonian age (sic) and evolving.