Cupcake and Paco, Corot

Based on the 1984 work entitled The Annunciation According to Mikey Piñero (Cupcake and Paco), the present work by Martin Wong, completed four years later, embodies the same subject matter and historical significance while encased in a museum-quality "Corot" frame. Born in 1946 to Chinese-American parents and raised in San Francisco’s China Town, Martin Wong’s body of work was often influenced by communities far away on the east coast. This fascination and insight into this world was thanks in part to his close relationship with Puerto-Rican, Manhattan based poet Mickey Piñero.

Wong was consistently inspired by Pinero’s work and the poet’s narratives from his writings or plays is often found in his paintings. The present example depicts the two prisoners, Paco and Cupcake, from Piñero’s play “Short Eyes”. The painting includes Paco on one knee announcing his romantic devotion to Cupcake who stands overhead alongside the prison bars. Written in Spanish on either side, the dialogue consists of Paco expressing his feelings while Cupcake vehemently denies him, insisting that he is not a homosexual. The configuration of the figures, combined with the title of the original work, is a clear reference to the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary. Although the dialogue suggests a story of unrequited love, if referenced directly to the biblical story of the Annunciation in Luke 1:34, it could be seen as s more hopeful moment. In the bible, Mary initially questions the Angel Gabriel as she “know not a man”. However, as the story goes, Mary eventually accepts the angel’s prophecy and goes on to carry Jesus Christ. Knowing this, it could be argued that there is hope for Paco to accept Cupcake’s love just like the Mother Mary went on to accept her celestial motherhood.

Cupcake and Paco, Corot can also be interpreted in conjunction with French novelist Jean Genet and his debut work, Our Lady of the Flowers. Genet famously wrote about the homosexual experience and was much more sympathetic to the oppressed group in comparison to Piñero. Our Lady of the Flowers was also written while Genet was in prison, nodding to the setting of Wong’s painting which became a popular subject for the artist starting with his depictions of Paco and Cupcake. The original painting from 1984 also has a graffiti rose in the top right corner of the prison wall, a more obvious reference to Genet as this was his favorite flower and a direct reference to the story’s title. The present work, however, does not contain the rose which is one of the only obvious differences between the two works compositionally and further adds to the mystery.

The present work is an iconic example of one of the most important artists often forgotten in the canon of art history. This piece sets the precedent for Wong’s series of jail paintings as well as his works on the subject of homoerotic love, most famously found in his depictions of firemen. The complexity of the subject matter makes it difficult to evaluate it alone on the basis of how well the artist followed the plot of Pinero’s play, Genet’s book or even biblical accounts of the annunciation as the artist himself denied any comment on the meaning. However, by placing this version in an elaborate gold frame the artist took from the Met from those discarded while he was employed, it is further contextualized within the discourse of art history as it elicits a heightened sense of museum-quality importance.