Richard 'Ricky' Armendariz American, b. 1969
If You Can Keep Your Head (Aquarius), 2023
Woodblock print
21.5 x 21.5 in
54.6 x 54.6 cm
54.6 x 54.6 cm
Edition of 10
If You Can Keep Your Head (Aquarius) takes inspiration from the Rudyard Kipling poem IF. If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming...
If You Can Keep Your Head (Aquarius) takes inspiration from the Rudyard Kipling poem IF.
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
Armendariz interprets this poem by understanding that “If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs...(and blaming it on you)…life will be challenging, but if you can keep your cool and be flexible like the reed in the river, you will persevere."
Upon further examination of these works, the viewer can see hawks “falling,” a phenomenon known as “whiffling." This further illustrates that while all those around you might lose their composure, you stay composed amidst the madness.
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
Armendariz interprets this poem by understanding that “If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs...(and blaming it on you)…life will be challenging, but if you can keep your cool and be flexible like the reed in the river, you will persevere."
Upon further examination of these works, the viewer can see hawks “falling,” a phenomenon known as “whiffling." This further illustrates that while all those around you might lose their composure, you stay composed amidst the madness.
