A Very Anxious Feeling: Voices of Unrest in the American Experience - Catalog - Page 43
María Fragoso
De nuestro jardin de frutas falsas
[From Our Garden of False Fruit],
2018, oil on canvas
patriarchal, racist, and binary structures,
structures that resonate in the very bodies
they are trying to control.
My work represents some aspects of the
myriad of coexisting identities in Mexico;
my paintings celebrate Mexican culture,
of course, but they also try to offer a
critical look into Mexico’s conception of
gender, sexuality, human relations, and
national belonging. Mexico City is full of
life, creativity, and beauty. But it is also
suffused with a violence that oftentimes
feels invisible and quiet, lurking behind
the scenes: an oppressive macho culture,
class inequalities, and the consequences
of colonialism. The need for survival and
resilience that emerge from fear and
unrest are similar necessities that I have
encountered in America.
A duality that has always pervaded
Mexican culture and everyday life is the
complicated relationship of struggle and
joy. I always think about it as an important
duality in my paintings. I try to convey
this bond of celebration and tragedy
by portraying scenes of lustfulness and
hedonism in bright and fiery colors while
also including some disturbing elements
that question the coherence of the
seemingly familiar. Questioning what is
happening allows for the existence of
unexpected and alternative narratives; a
personal and imaginary world influenced
by anxieties, desires, and hopes, that
reflect the contemporary ethos and
express a yearning for solidarity and
empathy within the uncertainty
of the future.
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