J. Todd Greene

“Foo Dog” is the slang term for Chinese guardian lions. They are often found in identical pairs around homes and business with the male’s paw resting atop a sphere, while the female holds a cub under hers. She protects the dwellers of the home or structure, while the male guards the exterior. The five Foo Dogs here are female and are inspired by Picasso’s painting, Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, a once very controversial work due to its nontraditional depiction of five defiant, nude females. It marked a departure for not only Picasso, but for the art world at large. It signaled creative rebirth like these female Foo Dogs, who each present the ‘new man’ sitting at the base of each figure.