This month, I have selected a stamp that is humorously thought-provoking. The Spanish stamp and the accompanying miniature sheet were designed by the artist Flavita Banana. Flavita Banana’s works are known for their “sad humour”, a mixture of genre and absurdity that often conveys profound messages.
Flavita Banana started drawing cartoons at the age of 26. In her small works of art, we can recognise all aspects of our lives – behaviours or realities that we often overlook in everyday life. But through her unique sense of humour, Flavita Banana manages to suddenly shake us awake. For her, humour is a universal means of expression that makes it possible to deal with and communicate sensitive topics or those that are difficult to convey in natural language.
This is also the case with the message of this stamp block: the background of the block shows an illustration of human evolution. At the end of the chain – now on the stamp – is the human being, represented by a woman. Next to him is a man who has apparently not made it past the first stage of evolution, but is trying to explain to the woman how humanity got to this point. With this caricature, Flavita Banana picks up on the theme of machismo, a recurring theme in her work. She describes herself as a feminist, which means that she believes that all people, regardless of their gender, should have the same abilities and opportunities.
“Did you notice that she didn’t shave her armpit hair?” – F. Banana (Wikimedia Commons)
The humorous but critical portrayal of gender roles in this stamp is thought-provoking and a typical example of Flavita Banana’s ability to present complex issues in an accessible way. It is a reminder that art and humour are powerful tools to shed light on social issues and stimulate discussion.
Sources: WOPA+ – Stamps and Coins; Colnect.com;
Stamp data:
- Date of issue: 2024-06-28
- Size: 34 x 48 mm
- Colours: multicoloured
- Printer: Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre-Real Casa de la Moneda (RCM-FNMT)
- Format: Special stamp
- Perforation: 13½ x 13¼
- Printing: Offset printing
- Nominal value: € 5.50 – Euro
- Print run:80,000
- Description: Stamp from souvenir sheet