General Black Rooster

General Black Rooster is a brutal satire of authority, obedience, and hollow spectacle. A decorated military figure stands rigid and faceless, his identity erased beneath gray flesh and censored eyes. Perched atop his head, a rooster—bright red and alert—crowns the figure with absurd vigilance, a symbol of noise, dominance, and performative power.

The uniform is heavy with medals and ornament, yet slashed violently by a bold red “X,” a clear act of rejection. This is not honor celebrated—it is authority exposed and crossed out. The rooster, traditionally a symbol of pride, alarm, and aggression, becomes an emblem of hollow bravado: loud, watchful, and ultimately ridiculous.

Rough oil textures and aggressive brushwork amplify the tension between order and collapse. The yellow field radiates warning and instability, while the scratched-out text and smeared marks suggest censorship, propaganda, and erasure at work.

This piece dismantles the image of command, replacing reverence with confrontation. It asks who leads, who follows, and who is merely making noise.