Review of Insecticide Album Cover
Known for his punchy and hooky guitar riffs, sand-papery screams and poetic lyrics, Nirvana's Kurt Cobain had a talent for paintings. Most of his best work is abstract figure paintings and the most popular one being the album cover he did for "Insecticide". Cobain's work, whether it be in his audio or visual art, often carries two themes: reproduction and contradictions. The "Insecticide" album cover is an oil painting where the central figure is a ghostly and skeletal marionette. Gripping the marionette's shoulder is a baby doll looking away with a broken and distorted expression on its face. On the same arm the baby doll is climbing, the marionette is holding two large red poppy-seed plants. The other arm of the marionette is hanging over its rested knee, so the figure seems to be sitting in a very casual position.
What makes this work so striking is the way the eye moves across the piece. One of the poppy plants is bent with the marionette's wrist wrapped around it, which suggests the marionette is pulling the poppy plants towards it. The contorted faced baby doll is yanking the shoulder of the marionette and trying to pull it into another direction. "Insecticide" was released in December of 1992, around the time the Cobain family went through a rough public fiasco with child services. Courtney Love was accused of using heroine during her pregnancy with Frances Bean Cobain, and both Love and Cobain were seen as unfit parents. The album cover may not be a direct expression of Cobain's frustration with the State of Washington's decision or his drug induced life, but the three directions the painting pulls you in are very suggestive. The baby doll seems desperate for the affection and attention of the marionette and the marionette is nonchalantly and blankly looking forward.
There is a clear life versus death contradiction here and while a baby-like figure would seem like the life metaphor, its face suggests otherwise. The baby is a burden on the marionette and the marionette is either trying to ignore the baby doll, or doesn't know the baby doll is even there. The baby doll's desperation makes you angry at the marionette's nonchalance and makes you want it pay attention to the poor child. The liveliest colors in the piece are the ruby red petals of the poppy plants. The more lively the color something is, especially with a sepia-toned background, the more a life metaphor is implied. Most art looks at a newborn baby as the perfect metaphor for life and the genius of Cobains work turns this cliché on its head.
There is a clear life versus death contradiction here and while a baby-like figure would seem like the life metaphor, its face suggests otherwise. The baby is a burden on the marionette and the marionette is either trying to ignore the baby doll, or doesn't know the baby doll is even there. The baby doll's desperation makes you angry at the marionette's nonchalance and makes you want it pay attention to the poor child. The liveliest colors in the piece are the ruby red petals of the poppy plants. The more lively the color something is, especially with a sepia-toned background, the more a life metaphor is implied. Most art looks at a newborn baby as the perfect metaphor for life and the genius of Cobains work turns this cliché on its head.
The contorted and darkened face of the baby looks like it is pulling the life out of the neutrally expressive marionette, while the poppy plants color is bringing life to it with their colors. It is a tragic painting and a very simple one. But the three directions your eyes move around are enticingly cyclical and make for a great metaphor.
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