Abstract Piñata No. 5
No Longer Available
Medium
Paper, paperboard, glue, wire, crepe paper
Dimensions
18 x 10 x 6"
Cost
SOLD
Description
My Abstract Piñata series was inspired by the work of ceramicist Ken Price. My fringe technique mimics the color vibration that is found in Ken Price's work. Instead of layering and paint and sanding to reveal an array of colors, I layer my crepe papers and cut away to reveal the varies colors creating a similar exciting and vibrant color pattern. Balloons are the base for my sculptures, and I wanted to create abstract forms using these same basic balloon shapes. My Illuminated Piñata series is a subtle reflection of my mixed-race background, combining the Mexican piñata craft with Western Art imagery. I depict the fanciful and odd hybrid creatures found in the marginalia of medieval manuscripts. In a sense, these creatures are like me; this other creature, this hybrid, this halfbreed. My Gynandromorph series focuses on gender in the bird world. A gynandromorph bird is one that is genetically both male and female. The way they present physically is bilateral: one half is male, and one half is female, split right down the middle. This split depiction of gender presented as simply as they are in the wild is to reiterate the complexities of gender that can be found in the natural world.
About this Artist
Roberto Benavidez
Roberto Benavidez is a sculptor specializing in the piñata form. Prior to the piñata form he worked in metal-casting in an abstract figurative style. Benavidez exhibited his bronze works in group shows and received two merit-based art scholarships from Pasadena City College. Longing for more accessible materials, Benavidez switched to paper and focused on the piñata technique. Benavidez plays with the underlying themes of race and sin innate in the piñata, layered with his identity as a mixed-race queer artist, with a focus on impeccable craftsmanship. His most notable series, Piñatas of Earthly Delights, is based on the fanciful creatures that roam Hieronymus Bosch’s, The Garden of Earthly Delights, and was exhibited at the AD&A Museum on the campus of UC Santa Barbara. Benavidez’s sculptures have been featured in national, international and on-line publications, including ARTnews, Artsy, Atlas Obscura, hifructose.com, Hyperallergic, Politiken, The Guardian, The New York Times and This…
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