RADAMES 'JUNI' FIGUEROA, BAR 'ESCANDALO' AT PRETEEN GALLERY IN HERMOSILLO, SONORA

Radames 'Juni' Figueroa and Gerardo Contreras




Preteen Gallery is probably my favourite gallery in the world, located in 'el culo del mundo', in Hermosillo, in the narco state of Sonora, in the periphery of the semi-periphery, the small space is run by very young curator Gerardo Contreras, who has created a local scene in Hermosillo, where he presents his very own vision of aesthetics, influenced by his local reality and the reality of the interweb.

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PRETEEN PRESENTS "ESCÁNDALO", A NEW INSTALLATION PIECE BY PUERTO RICO-BASED ARTIST RADAMES “JUNI” FIGUEROA.

RADAMES “JUNI” FIGUEROA’S WORK SERVES AS AN EXPLORATION OF TWO MAIN THEMES: SEX AND NATURAL REALITY. IN HIS GREEN INSTALLATIONS AND ASSEMBLAGES HE CONSTRUCTS A CRITIQUE OF CURRENT TROPICAL UTOPIAS WHILE CREATING A SITUATION IN WHICH PLANTS BECOME A LIVING AND GROWING WORK OF ART. HE INTEGRATES THE AESTHETICS OF THE HOME GARDEN AND THAT OF SPORTS AND RECREATION. IN HIS DRAWINGS AND PAINTINGS, HE DEPICTS A CHILDISH YET SEXUALLY CHARGED REALITY, AGAIN BORROWING ON THE VISUAL OUTCOMES OF TROPICALIA. IN "ESCÁNDALO", FIGUEROA WILL RECREATE THE AMBIANCE OF A PUERTO RICAN BAR, REPRODUCING THE BAR’S CHARACTERISTIC WORKS OF ART AND INTERIOR DECORATION. HE WILL CREATE A SITUATION WHERE HIS TROPICAL READYMADES, THE DISTINCTIVE BAR AMBIANCE AND THE CONSTANT FLOW OF ALCOHOL TURN THE SPACE INTO A “PLACE WITHOUT LIMITS”.

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