Xavier Tavera @ Franklin Artworks
Wednesday 27 November @ 09:46:39 |
 by Jenny Assef
In La Calle, Minneapolis artist Xavier Tavera presents larger-than-life images of people who are often looked at but too seldom seen. This series of five-by-five foot ink jet prints features drag queens, members of the Cholo gang, and punks with elaborate spikes.
Latino punk from Xavier Tavera's La Calle series
“What links them together is that all of them are Latinos,” Tavera says. “Among us there are these subcultures, too. I wanted to break a little from the stereotypes about the Latinos and Mexicans that are here.”
Tavera grew interested in subcultures when he moved from Mexico to the United States. Once here, he was overwhelmed by the prevalence of categorization, especially as it related to his own identity. “Suddenly I was Mexican and Brown—not just Xavier, but all these things,” he recalls. “Feeling that isolation, I focused on isolated groups.”
When he focused, he focused very closely. Then he took his favorite images and enlarged them, disclosing every detail. We can see everything in these photographs, from mascara clumps to individual hairs, abandoned piercings, and the shadows of tattoos. The resulting honesty makes it hard to look away.
“The photographs are confrontational because they are staring right at you, but also you can take time to look and you can go up to them, and it’s different than if you saw them on the street,” Tavera says.
Size alone makes the portraits arresting. Looming large on the gallery walls, they invite you to stare back, approach, and take note. Extracted from their contexts, the people in Tavera’s portraits begin to speak for themselves.
Xavier Tavera’s photography has been exhibited in Mexico City at the Auditorio Nacional, Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana and Centro Cultural Quetzalcoatl. Locally, his work has been featured in group shows at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, No Name Exhibitions, pARTs, CreArte, and others.
La Calle runs through Jan. 11, 2003. Franklin Art Works, 1021 E. Franklin Ave. Mpls. Hours: Wed. – Sat. noon to 5 p.m. 612-872-7494.
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