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The above painting is an amusing social commentary of modern medical practice.
The artist’s irreverent rendition of the modern operating room resembles an auto repair shop, a tongue-in-cheek representation of the spectacular advances in medical technology that have allowed physicians to repair and replace body parts.
The painter is obviously mocking the medical profession for extending life indefinitely by replacing various organs, just like restoring antique cars.
An interesting feature of the painting is the disproportionately large body of the patient in comparison to the dwarf-like size of the surgeons, perhaps to symbolize the complexity of the human body.
Laughter is not always warm, affectionate, and merry – it can be sharp and subversive.
Its literary and artistic expression is called satire, the objective being to ridicule and expose human foolishness and frailty in all its guises:
vanity, hypocrisy, pedantry, idolatry, bigotry, or sentimentality and to effect reform through such exposure.
Sigmund Freud argued that satire constituted a form of not very-concealed aggression, which he called “hostile wit.
” Perez’ satirical art however, is gentle and refreshing.
Targets of satire have been the learned professions:
the clergy, lawyers, and doctors. Since ancient times, doctors faced crucial questions of trust since they were involved in all sorts of intimate personal crises, from birth, to illness, to death.
Therefore, it was and is essential that doctors be trustworthy with up-to-date medical knowledge.
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