nudes on the beach

If I am going to buy a house that has the artistic splendor of yesterday's post (the witch who ate my brain), I am going to need an appropriate art collection to set off my putt-putt golf course sense of taste.

You may recall that I was prepared last year to buy some sculpture while I was in Pátzcuaro last summer (commies, nudes, and live tunes).  The piece to the left would have cost me a cool 100,000 pesos.  Just under $8000 (US).

I passed on it.  Even though I was quite fond of it.

Of course, I had no place to put it in my small apartment.  What I needed was a large house.  In the country with a pool.  And a guest house.  All surrounded by a large wall.

Of course, that was the place we fondly labeled the narco house.  And someone else took it off of my hands before I could close the deal.

It is just as well.  After all, it would have then been unseemly if I had then developed my odd crush on the orange tribute to the brothers Grimm in Manzanillo.  And the polished wood of the sculpture would have soon been bug-infested before long.  That is the way of life at the coast.

No, if I am going to live at the beach and collect sculpture, I need pieces made of something resilient.  And pieces with less sophistication -- and a bit of local flavor.

I may have found exactly what I need.  On the street in San Patricio yesterday.

If I lived in San Miguel de Allende, these pieces would have been displayed in some gallery with price tags to let the amateur buyer know this is The Real Thing.  And crowds of brie-toting, Chablis-sipping patrons would gaze knowingly and nod ever so reverentially in the presence of Art.

But I live in Villa Obregon.  Where our art displays tend to the utilitarian.

I must admit, though, I rather like the composition of the photograph.  You almost expect Fellini to ride off on the bicycle.

The truth is a rather sad one.  The shop owner is selling the remainder of his inventory.  The remainder that the punk thieves left behind when they burglarized his shop after cutting the lock with a bolt cutter.  So, everything is on sale.  Including this ménage à trois of multiple amputees.

If you stop by the Casa de Payasos in Manzanillo, they may welcome you in the foyer.

And I bet they will not cost 100,000 pesos.