El Farol: Canyon Road Cantina

David Bradley is known for satirical narratives and sociopolitical commentaries about the commercialism and clash of cultures in Santa Fe. Bradley came to the city in the late 1970s to attend the Institute of American Indian Art. This painting is set in Santa Fe’s Iconic El Farol, which was a social center for the city’s artists and cultural community. Bradley includes several Santa Fe personas mixed with other iconic figures. Georgia O’Keeffe and Juan Hamilton sit in a back corner of the bar as Vincent Van Gogh lays on the bar with a bandaged ear. Zozobra looming large in the background with a New Mexican church to his left and a Mesoamerican pyramid to his right.