Prince Mongo Riding UM Tiger
oil on canvas, 24x36
2011
Artist Alex 'Warble' Harrison
Courtesy of the artist, Alex Harrison
Also known to indie music circles as Alex Warble, Harrison creates pieces that blend local folklore and characters into a unique style redolent of sci-fi fantasy fiction and children's fairytales. Combining the unvarnished earnestness of outsider art with the wit of a keen social observer, Harrison engages in a kind of pop culture 'mash-up' that is uniquely his own. Of this work he writes: "This is a painting of a youthful Prince Mongo at play, shoeless as always, riding a red white and blue tiger near a 1% skim milk in the foreground set in one of my landscapes at night…in his right hand a video camera, and in his left hand a Zambodian Spacecraft…[he] will always be the mayor of Memphis in my heart." Harrison completed his BFA in painting and illustration at Memphis College of Art in 2006, and has produced a number of notable murals throughout the city, including at the Hi-Tone Café.
