(Felt Clown)
Anonymous
Found 11/2011, Salvation Army (Round Rock on 1431)

An impressive piece in cut fabric and marker, (Felt Clown) is a bold piece in strong, saturated primary and secondary colors. (Felt Clown) lacks the irony of later clown art, and is not weighted down with questions of identity and facade. It joyfully shows the clown without any reference to the human under the face paint. The subject of (Felt Clown) is in one substantial way divorced from its humanity. “The eyes,” Shakespeare says, “are the windows to the soul.” In many instances of clown art, the eyes are the point where the artist shows tragedy and reality under the face paint. However, a close view of the piece shows that the eyes of (Felt Clown) are artificial, the same green as the subject’s wig. While the anonymous artist creates a honest and joyful image in (Felt Clown), intentionally or unintentionally we are left with the question of whether this joy can exist outside of an artificial facade.