Henrique Tarlé

The series Outras Meia Dúzia (Another Half Dozen) is part of a larger project on bananas entitled Yes! Nos Temos by Brazilian artist Henrique Tarlé. In this series, the artist explores the sexual character of the banana fruit. Using hyperrealist language, Tarlé draws six partly peeled bananas but replaces the inner flesh of the fruit with erect penises. The artist, interested in the different connotations historically associated with the banana, explores in these drawings its exotic and erotic character, making particular reference to the fascination of the European and “civilized” public with black men, seen as hypersexual.