Greatest Companions
Greatest Companions, 2008
The Greatest Companions is a series that explores aspects of the culture I experience during my upbringing and mainstream media depiction of the feminine body in Latino culture. As my exploratory research subject, I chose the Puerto Rican icon, Iris Chacon. Ms.Chacon was a pioneer of the ‘vedette’ movement in Puerto Rico in the 1970’s. Her self-named variety show ‘El Show de Iris Chacon’ was very popular, and her alluring looks and provocative costumes didn’t prevent her from becoming a favorite family entertainer and a legendary diva that few other woman in Latin America have able to emulate. ‘The Greatest Companions’ series is a reflection of my memories watching ‘El Show de Iris Chacon’. As a child I was drawn to her raw, incomparable characteristics, her perceptibly untrained dance style, and her charismatic and charming persona. Channeling Ms. Chacon as my alter ego and setting the paintings in vintage scenarios inspired by her show, the series questions the fascination of Latino woman for self-exposure and how Latino culture is portrayed in the mainstream popular media; woman as the protector and the one to be protected.
