1.
Fresh
may 14, 2013- june 30, 2013
Curated by Flavia S. Zúñiga-West
Claudia Ballesteros, Massimiliano Boschini,
Ana Brotas, John Clowder, Michael Frank,
Helena Markonsalo, Alvaro Sánchez

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The seven artists in this exhibition have
stretched our interpretation and associations
of the word fresh. From Finland, Italy,
Mexico, The United States, Guatemala, and
London, the diverse definitions of this
commonly used word is vast and transversal
in the natural, societal, and whimsical. They
disturb, play, and celebrate on the vernacular
and slang uses of a word that falls into song
lyrics, complimentary statements regarding
fashion, repetitiously seen in grocery stores,
domestic product commercials, and hint at
the uncomfortable societal innuendo. We
want to consume fresh produce while looking
fresh, hoping to attract someone who won't
take advantage of us and get too fresh,
seeking products that make our homes smell
fresh, thinking 'ain't nobody dope as me I'm
just so fresh and so' … These artists through
various mediums-- collage, mixed media,
digital photography, and fiber art, prod us to
realize the complexity of language and how
we can manipulate words to drastically
change their meanings.
Alvaro Sánchez
Fresh at Home
Digital Collage
Helena Markonsalo
Bow Bob
Mixed Media: fabric, beads, plastic, paint

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Ana Brotas
Bathing 1
Digital Collage
John Clowder
Where am I going?
Illustration on paper
Massimiliano Boschini and Alvaro Sánchez
discuss domesticity, gender, and violence
hidden in the word fresh. Boschini blends
the informal, presumptuous use of fresh
with domestic appliances in “frigidaire.”
The photograph is jarring; capturing a
naked woman crouched with her head
down inside of a refrigerator in an
abandoned, decrepit warehouse. The
composition is saturated with warm hues;
the warehouse appears to be boiling hot,
and questions if the lone, almost orange
female character is hiding or seeking
shelter. “Frigidaire” disturbs; beauty,
sexuality, and violence are actively
colliding in this photograph, crying for
hydration and freshness.
Alvaro Sánchez borrows symbols of
freshness with his re-appropriation of the
refrigerator and 1950s housewife in "Fresh
at Home.” In this collage, fresh is confined;
gender politics are on the table with a
vintage advertisement serving as evidence
of the American promotion of the cult of
domesticity. Red lines mimicking kitchen
tiles trap the smiling housewife displaying
her full fridge, with the skull expressing the
decay of female individuality and its
transformation into an appliance to fulfill
societal expectations.

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“Bow Bob” by Helena Markonsalo is
quirky and arrogant with the placement of
the hand on the groin. Essential to the
tuxedo and distinctive attire for formal
events, “Bow Bob” is fitting for bow tie
icons like Fonzworth Bentely, The Rat Pack,
and 007. The heavy embellishment of the
necktie and the grip of the hand mocks
men’s fashion, playboy personalities, and
the status of the neck tie.
Ana Brotas’ bathing Renaissance beauty
pushes us to see art historical icons with a
fresh perspective, appreciating their
contradictory existence in an exhibit asking
for fresh works. Transitioning from social
ecology into the natural, artists Michael
Frank and Claudia Ballesteros
metamorphoses the word fresh. “Leaf and
Limb” is a digital green-scape budding with
life. The serpent like frond appears to be
undergoing rapid growth, boundlessly
stretching and spiraling. Ballesteros’ tactile
sculpture “Eco” teems with vitality by
capturing the veins, nooks and crannies of
the wilderness.
Fresh art is what every curator seeks and
every artist hopes to produce. Emerging art
by its very nature is fresh, but it is technical
skill along with concept and context that
guarantee the shelf life and preservation of
what is deemed good art.
Claudia Ballesteros
Eco
Sand, gesso, textiles
and oil on wood
Michael Frank
Leaf and Limb
3D Software & Photoshop

5.
DIGITAL
ACCESSIBLE
FREE
Acknowledgements: Special thanks to Daniel Ruiz for his editorial eye.
Cover: Massimiliano Boschini, frigidaire
Digital Photography
http://dulcineaartgallery.com