Art review: Yvonne Venegas at Shoshana Wayne Gallery
June 18, 2010 | 12:30
pm
The tension between aspiration and reality appears clearly in “Lago” (“Lake”), an image of an idealistic but decidedly sorry-looking man-made pond. Despite being populated by flamingos and geese, it is hardly an oasis, surrounded by nothing but dry, flat dirt. Similarly in “Muchachos,” a group of well-dressed men gather around an SUV in a field that looks like it has just been cleared for construction.
Nowhere is this more apparent than in her images of children, who become a species of object themselves. “Nirvana” depicts a bored little girl, all in white with perfect blond ringlets. Seated at a banquet table, her head rests on a round, golden plate. Another image features two girls stiffly dressed as if they stepped straight out of Velasquez’s “Las Meninas.” In these straightforward but loaded images, Venegas gives us a probing view not only into the lives of the super-rich, but also the price of turning upper class aspirations into somewhat hollow realities.
– Sharon Mizota
Shoshana Wayne Gallery, 2525 Michigan Ave. B-1, Santa Monica, (310) 453-7535, through August 28. Closed Sundays and Mondays. www.shoshanawayne.com
Images: Reloj (top) and Velas. Courtesy of Shoshana Wayne Gallery.