Costa Rican Fiesta

CARIBBEAN: CROSSROAD OF THE WORLD

               This week the Queens Museum displayed an alluring exhibition entitled as "Caribbean: Crossroad of the World". Caribbean: Crossroad of the World" provided us with an insight of the Caribbeans wonderful history. What was defined through sculptures, paintings and film was the aesthetics in the landscape, languages and lifestyle belonging to the remarkable islands. 

Costa Rica (1962) Honorio Cabraca Acosta

It was tough narrowing down my favors in a gallery full of art, especially for a picky person like myself, however, Honorio Cabraca Acosta's Costa Rica (left) stood out to me immediately. With what seems as a turquoise-greenish hue as it's top essential, What I loved the most about was Acosta's use of cool, yet electrifying colors. The painting is very surreal, it was as if you were there on Costa Rica's most luminous day! The painting depicted a tropic village landscape, where residents wandered and set up fruit displays. Speaking of fruits, I speculate the arrangement of fruit to be an embodiment of repetition. The Visual Elements portrayed in this picture are mainly demonstrated in the exotic clothing worm by the characters. The clothing displays warm and cool complexions of Complementary Colors but a vast majority of Tertiary Colors such as green, orange and purple, as illustrated in the house in the background. There is an interesting form of Implied Movement in the labor related posture of the men who are handling fruit among the crowd of people. Predominantly, Acosta's Costa Rica projects a great sense of a Costa Rican scenery. 

Fiestas Patronales (1936) Jose Ruiz

Colors, colors, colors! Speaking of colors, Jose Ruiz's Fiestas Patronales (left) was almost inevitable, with the use of the most cheerful hues on the color wheel, what can one admire more about this image other than amusement park nostalgia? Fiestas Patronales, translated as festivities consist of many Visual Elements thats naked to the human eye. To begin, this painting pops with dominant use of Primary Colors, such as yellow, red and blue in, this is also considered as Visual Rhythm, due to excessive use of repeated colors. The Vertically lined sidewalk and alignment of the crowd projects a tranquil environment where the people express happiness and Unity. As this is said the people represent Implied Movement in the act of walking, as the ferris wheel is implied to be spinning in it's usual circulation. I would generally consider the people and the rides as the Emphasis and the Positive Space in this setting, making the Negative Space the blatant blue sky and cement colored sidewalk. Visually, this accommodates a well Balanced visual, as where the amount of eccentric bright colors are in equilibrium with the silent dull colors.

               The two Caribbean themed images interpreted a very peaceful tropical atmosphere, with similar uses of colors, accent and expressions. The artists provides us with a street view, allows us to feel like we are part of the community presented in the paintings. Acosta and Ruiz convinces us to focus on the art of the people of the paintings, using serene elements to portray the elegant relationship between the people and their culture. Overall, I'm glad to experience the: Crossroad of the World exhibition. Viewing Caribbean themed art, it was something that I did not come across very often, therefore I appreciated it more and will be planning my trip to the islands ASAP!