In 1988, PBS released a documentary called The Power of Myth, consisting of interview footage between journalist Bill Moyer and American writer Joseph Campbell. Filmed on George Lucas’s ranch, the documentary and subsequent book of the same name achieved global fame, and have since achieved cult-like status.

Campbell’s most significant thesis was that all world folkloric traditions are grounded in a similar tale of a single hero’s mythological journey. About these heroes, Campbell said, “They’ve moved out of the society that would have protected them, and into the dark forest, into the world of fire, of original experience. Original experience has not been interpreted for you, and so you’ve got to work out your life for yourself. Either you can take it or you can’t. You don’t have to go far off the interpreted path to find yourself in very difficult situations. The courage to face the trials and to bring a whole new body of possibilities into the field of interpreted experience for other people to experience—that is the hero’s deed.”

Roger Brown fostered the last line of that quote when making this painting, which features the “Motto of the Masses: I Can’t; You Can’t; It Can’t.”

The full title of the painting is Can’t Never Could/ The Courage To Face The Trials And Bring A Whole New Body Of Possibilities Into The Field of Interpreted Experience- That Is the Artist’s Deed. Joseph Campbell.

In a conundrum common to Brown’s work, it is difficult to ascertain his full intention with this seemingly cynical piece. Was he satirizing Campbell, criticizing the non-heroic masses, mythologizing the artist, or perhaps all of the above?