Travis Louie, Brute Goblin, 2014, acrylic on board, 18 x 14" • Sold
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The “Brute Goblin†was often hired as a
leverage agent when landowners needed to collect rent. Their ability to
transform themselves into small rodents and fuzzy insects made them difficult
to hide from.
Oddly, Brute Goblins were also advocates for tenant’s rights and when they
felt that the landowners were taking advantage of their tenants, punishment was
ironic and severe. One famous story, involved a landowner being forced to live
in a house so small, his legs and arms stuck out of the windows and doors.
During the potato famine of 1845, many of them immigrated to the Americas,
settling on the East Coast of North America as far north as New Brunswick. |
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