Cocoanuts

René Daniëls always mixes words with images in his work. The title of this painting is a contraction of coconut and cocoa, the nuts hanging from the branches on the left. ‘Nuts’ means not only the edible fruits but also ‘crazy’ and ‘testicles.’ The ambiguity of the words has a counterpart in the silliness of the image. Is the beard billowing up perhaps suggestive of an erection the man is trying to conceal?