In my search for online exhibitions with compelling presentations and content, I have recently become apprised of three shows that take advantage of the digital medium to display words and images (only one show contains sounds in these examples) in ways that I wouldn’t quite be able to experience IRL. They do all share a basic approach: to use visual and historical examinations of an object or objects to discuss how it has come to be and how the forces that acted upon it might resonate in our own current moment.
Author Archives: Juanita Solano Roa
El banano es mucho más que una fruta. En el arte contemporáneo de América Latina puede ser símbolo de un exotismo que se asocia al trópico, o representante de los extensos monocultivos que se tomaron en Centro América y el Caribe, o recuerdo de una historia violenta que involucra a empresas como la United Fruit Company. El banano puede ser incluso, por su forma fálica, emblema de la identidad masculina. El banano se disfruta fresco en una ensalada de frutas o frito en una cena familiar, pero entre artistas del continente tiene un sabor más amargo.
Bananas are the most consumed fruit in the world. In the United States, we peel them without much thought to how they reached our supermarkets from the tropics. In Latin America, where the United States’ bananas are grown, the fruit isn’t taken for granted.
Banana Craze is an ongoing virtual curatorial project organized by Juanita Solano and Blanca Serrano that traces the appearances, origins, and complex significances of the banana in Latin American art. In the past year, the project has hosted online conversations with the likes of Mexican author Valeria Luiselli, Colombian artists Elkin Calderón and Alberto Baraya, and Costa Rican artist Victoria Cabezas. This week, Banana Craze is hosting an online screening of the documentary film Cayeye 28 (2003–04), directed by Armando Bolaño.