This work is one of the few in which I share a more personal perspective. Its title is inspired by the song La Corrida by Francis Cabrel. To me, bullfighting is a cruel tradition and this is what this painting evokes. This canvas, painted entirely in red and displayed horizontally, immediately evokes the muleta, the cloth used by the matador during the faena, the final act of the fight. Historically, the muleta came in various colors, but it is now traditionally red, notably to mask the bull’s blood. This red has become a symbol, both cultural and aesthetic.

The red I chose is a primary red, serving two intentions. First, because this “pure” red represents the image the matador has of himself: noble, heroic, flawless.
Second, it plays on a wordplay between primary and primate. It questions the stance of man who kills, not out of necessity, but for spectacle. A man who still acts like a primate, not yet fully human in moral consciousness.

This “pure” red is then deliberately dirtied by three darker shades of red. These variations are not only there to suggest blood, but to urge the viewer to look directly, not to turn away. They also represent time, time passing and leaving traces, like the blood spilled over the course of countless bullfights.

This red that darkens evokes all the bulls who have died, are dying, and will die, victims of a tradition that endures despite the evolution of our ethical awareness.