Germ Babysits is a darkly satirical yet playfully exaggerated entry in Parris Jaru’s Chronicles of Bad Germ series, a body of work that critiques the fleeting nature of influence and the often absurd power dynamics of the art world. Conceived in 2019, the series was born out of Jaru’s observations of how trends and validation cycles shape artistic success, often reducing the creative field to a game of social positioning rather than artistic merit. The recurring figure of “bad germ” embodies this phenomenon—a symbol of fleeting coolness, clinging to relevance in an ecosystem driven by hype.
This composition, rendered in bold black-and-white linework, transforms an ordinary scene into an allegory of manipulation, survival, and inherited influence. The central figures—a grotesquely stylized “baby germ” under the watchful eye of its elder counterpart—suggest an intergenerational transfer of power, mirroring how status is handed down, controlled, and manipulated within cultural spheres. The surrounding text—“Baby Germ, mind your baby brother”—injects humor into the piece, but also underscores a sense of inevitability, where the next generation is groomed to participate in the same cycles of ambition, competition, and eventual replacement.
Jaru’s raw, unfiltered aesthetic recalls Jean Dubuffet’s Art Brut, where refined technique is cast aside in favor of instinctual mark-making. His stylized, cartoon-like figures share a kinship with Philip Guston’s grotesque, politically charged works, while the fragmented speech bubbles and layered symbols evoke Basquiat’s frenetic graffiti-inspired compositions. Unlike Roy Lichtenstein, who appropriated comic book aesthetics for pop commentary, Jaru constructs his own narrative universe, creating a visual language that critiques power structures from within.
The title, Germ Babysits, suggests both nurturing and control, a duality that plays into the broader themes of the Chronicles of Bad Germ series. In Jaru’s world, power is not just held—it is passed down, performed, and ultimately consumed by the same forces that created it.
less...
