FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Vice Blog

ARGENTINA - DAY-GLO SPERM-SHOOTING BANANAS IN PERU

Here is what Iquitos, Peru, is all about: black lights and fluorescent clothes. That decree's straight from the mouth of local self-taught painter José "Ashuco" Araujo, who's mastered his naughty blend of erotic fantasies, Amazon psychedelia, and grocery store sign ephemera in the clubs out there.

Vice: Hi José. So what you usually do is paint the walls of Iquitos's nightclubs?
José: Yes man, my job is based on this: the psychedelic neon paintings. Iquitos, Perú, where I live, is a place full of partying and fun, and this is what we like: black lights, fluorescent clothes. We are constantly decorating and painting pubs, videoclubs, and nightclubs. I am a night painter. At what time does your day begin?
I begin to work around eight in the morning. Still, it's always dark in those places. I only paint in the dark. See, I am a nightclub painter, but I stay in there working until 7 or 8 in the evening, for afterwards the girls arrive, so the guys come in as well and start bothering me.

Advertisement

You've had enough partying already…
Yes, well, eventually I hang around until late to take a look at how my work gets mixed with the girls and the crowd inside while the party is going on. I go from one club to the other. I know all the girls in there, we are working partners. They are from 18 to 23 years old--not much older because that's no good for business.

At least you're honest. And how did you become a night painter?
I've been into this kind of painting for 15 years now. I used to work in advertising and make drawings for a living, but a good friend of mine who owns the biggest videoclub in Iquitos brought some ideas from Rio de Janeiro and encouraged me. I was innovative from the very beginning, since I painted the whole place: roofs, floors, benches, chairs, you couldn't imagine. And I like to paint there constantly and refresh the place.

What about the last painting you did here in Buenos Aires?
It's called Howls in the Jungle. There's just one of the drawings that is new (because I like to paint the same images and phrases in each place I make a show), but this time I added Wilindoro Cacique. He is the vocalist from Juaneco y su Combo, and he had a brain stroke that left him in bed about to die. He's now recovering and kind of came back from death, but he can't sing anymore. He is often taken to the stage because we love his presence. Well, I was inspired by him because for us he is a cumbia icon, and I use lots of his phrases for my work.

Advertisement

What about all the recurring balls and dicks and vaginas and stuff?
Because of the places and environments I'm into, I usually try to draw the same things: these perverted and naughty images, voluptuous women, genitals… no one seems to have a problem with that.

I certainly don't.

TOMAS NERVI