"I've Already Left Home" Satirical Bond Paperwork Collage by Mickey "Kano" Kane

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"I've Already Left Home" Satirical Bond Paperwork Collage

Elaborate collage by Mickey "Kano" Kane (American, 20th century). This piece is … Read more "I've Already Left Home" Satirical Bond Paperwork Collage

Elaborate collage by Mickey "Kano" Kane (American, 20th century). This piece is a satirical collage that mimics the ornate design of a bond certificate to critique the fragility of global systems and the false promises of progress. Held within the borders typically found on a bond certificate, is a what appears to be either of icy seascape or landscape. Large rocky forms sit atop the horizon line, where a golden sun is found sinking into the landscape. The prominent use of watercolor within the landscape creates the sense of motion and perhaps of melting. Two headless figures provide ornamentation in the bottom corners and below the horizon line are the words "I THINK I FOUND OUT WHAT YOU'RE DOING BUT I'VE ALREADY LEFT HOME." Overall this piece appears to touch on topics such as ecological decay and perceptions of value, but it handles it in a much more ambiguous manner than in Kano's later works.

Signed and dated "Kano" and "1988" bottom right.
Paper size: 21" H x 28.5" W

Mickey “Kano” Kane (American, 1939-2002) was born in Illinois and grew up in Sacramento, CA. Kane moved to the Pacific Coast and worked on mixed media panels - which he would refer to as a “Totem” – and detailed collage compositions. His collage work is generally satirical or critical in nature, frequently dealing with themes of money, capitalism, government, power, and debt. By contrast, his “Totem” sculptural work is abstract and free of direct symbolism, focusing instead on the aesthetics of the composition.

Original Member, Artist’s Cooperative Gallery

Artist’s Statement:
The Totem is indicative of the unfolding 21st Century, graphically and metaphorically. It is neither one side nor the other, nor does one side challenge or compete with the other. Each side cooperates and thus enhances the other so that both "sides" transcend that definition into a composition revealing that, indeed, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The Totem reflects the inner harmony that all sides, whether two or two thousand, are striving to manifest in their own inimitable way. See less