New Photography by Cecilia Paredes
New Paintings by Luis Cornejo
December 6, 2012 – January 31, 2013
Artist reception December 6, 2012
6 – 9 pm
VIRTUAL WALK-THROUGH OF THE EXHIBIT
El Salvadorian painter Luis Cornejo and Peruvian performance photographer Cecilia Paredes both play with the idea of identity and self-expression in and amongst popular culture and polite society, exploring the often times over-the-top ways in which we choose to hide in plain sight.
For Luis Cornejo the works speaks to the art of mimicry through the clever use of pop-culture icons, a turtle shell hardhat from Super Mario Brothers protects a beautiful woman from the threat of “bonks” and “bangs” while another pair of women are seated side by side, conjoined as their clothing and arms weaving in and around one another, each wearing a bomb cap with the fuses lit. His meaning is both playful and sincere: Your efforts to hide behind the trappings of beauty are in fact exposing its absurdity.
Cecilia Paredes goes through a great deal of trouble to blend herself. Almost entirely self-portraiture, her performance photography speaks to her own experience married to a man in the diplomatic service and living in many different places throughout the world, each location providing a unique opportunity to join a different culture. Her process is theatrical with several assistants providing support as she painstakingly paints herself to match a tapestry backdrop chosen to represent a former “home.” By the end of the performance, the artist has been transformed into a reflection of her surroundings, and yet, for all her efforts, is not invisible.