That Tortilla Artist Guy Has Finally Gone Out Of His Mind (And Taken A Reporter With Him)

Kudos (or curses?) to William Booth of the Washington Post for doing quite the extensive profile of Mexican tortilla artist Joe Bravo, whom we’ve covered before cuz he managed to reach the most unstable of all the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Unfortunately, Booth has been sucked into the flour-and-lard caked whirlpool of his evil genius:

Here he comes, wearing an Aztec mask, made entirely of tortillas, and in place of jade and precious stones, he has pebbled the headdress with kernels of corn. “I’m thinking of making a whole suit of tortillas,” he says, and you think, please, can some foundation immediately DHL a large check to this man so the world can witness the suit of painted lard and flour?

For a minute there, we were convinced that maybe it’s all just a spectacle put on for the press and Bravo isn’t substantially bonkers. Then, we read about how he connects with his medium. Typical artist schlock, folks:

“You see patterns,” he says, “like when you look up at the clouds. Here,” he points, “I’m seeing the fur of a jaguar.” The correspondent is seeing a No. 3 special with extra onions from Tito’s Tacos. “You’re working with the environment of the tortilla,” Bravo says. “It’s almost like a collaborator, the tortilla is.”

Riiight. At the very least, Bravo still has enough wits about him to talk shit about corporate America:

Also, he’s done Ronald McDonald for McDonald’s launch of its “snack wrap.” For that, someone accused Bravo of selling out. His response? “All the money that McDonald’s has made off the Latino community? Are you kidding me? If they want to give a little back, I’ll take the gig.”

Touché, crazy tortilla guy. Touché.

Tortilla becomes a lucrative muse [Washington Post via Free New Mexican]
Image [Joe Bravo]
Earlier, Finally, An Image On A Tortilla We Can All See