BAR2 - Lot 19

BAR2 JOE BAR TEAM Volume 1, Vents d'Ouest, 1990 Crise mystique, original plate no. 27, prepublished in Moto Journal 1989-1990. Signed. India ink and white gouache on paper 36.5 × 42 cm (14.37 × 16.54 in.) This plate tends to prove that, in certain circumstances, bad faith, even if exacerbated, does not prevent one from having faith, in this case Christian faith. And one is tempted to think that, behind the purely comic aspect of his story, Bar2 is trying to communicate his thoughts on the subject. "To tell the truth, I got the idea for this gag from the rumor that, in certain dramatic situations, the most hardened agnostics come to invoke the grace of God. And I'm happy to believe it, because I experienced it myself one day when a biker friend took me as a passenger. We were riding on the ring road. The traffic was very heavy, the asphalt very soggy, and in spite of all that, my stupid driver kept on going headlong. I was so scared that, in the space of a kilometer or two, I was able to recall all the prayers I'd been taught when I was a kid. And I recited them over and over to myself the whole way. This terrifying experience led me to the conclusion that fear calls for faith. Hence this board. Which also reveals this: the most reckless bikers are capable of the greatest cowardice when they're not the ones holding the handlebars."