DAGBF

DIAMONDS ARE GIRL’S BEST FRIEND

“Diamonds are a girl’s best friend” deals with femininity through a lens of Yaro's daughter, the central figure of these paintings. “She is the real woman,” he emphasizes. The girl is a symbol of a powerful femininity that is curious, innocent, attentive, full of wonder and joy, but also anger. These portraits are saturated with light, astonishing the viewer with inner brightness and optimism. Yaro intentionally subverts his own reverence toward his daughter and femininity with the reference to song famously performed by Marilyn Monroe in the 1953 film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, which through its overt materialism clearly debunks myths of love. The titular diamonds are present in the background as contemporary mandalas. In his sacrilegious juxtaposition Yaro again provokes, ironically contrasting the use of diamonds with contemplation and spirituality. In a daring move, he places his daughter at the center of his materialistic mandalas, symbolizing cosmic processes of disintegration and reintegration. Despite that irony his fascination with the female energy is strongly palpable.