Join us for the opening of 2018 ICP-Bard MFA candidate Tino’s solo exhibition, Realistic Beauty, at the ICP-Bard MFA Studios in Long Island City.
Realistic Beauty combines photos made over the past two years from three discrete series: wrestling, natural hair, and Comic Con. Tino’s work invokes the implicit bias around representation and performance. Through this exhibition, he gives a platform to people who are underrepresented in mainstream media, allowing these people a space to be themselves and construct their own reality. Several of the wrestlers portrayed have signed Tino’s pictures in the style of fan pin-up posters.
The hair project refers to Tino’s childhood neighborhood, where “good hair” was perceived as social status. He recalls, “As a kid my hair wasn’t stylish; it was always somewhat in a bowl cut. I remember hearing, ‘Your hair is so beautiful, I wish my hair was like yours, you have good hair.’ I believed their hair was beautiful, too.” These photographs of natural hair celebrate those who go against the conventions of “good hair.”
The wrestling project shows people of color involved both as wrestlers and as fans. The work exposes the prejudices of wrestling narratives, where the few non-white wrestlers inevitably play the bad guy. A famous example was Eddie Guerrero, who used the motto, “I lie, I cheat, I steal.” His dirty tactics helped him win matches but Eddie’s charisma got him the love of the fans. He would speak in the microphone about his struggles as a drug addict and his pride in his Latina background. Tino’s photographs challenge white mainstream wrestling’s misrepresentation by reflecting on heroic moments where people of color champion themselves.
In a similar vein, the Comic Con images show people of color dressed as heroes that are typically white characters. To be Mexican on Halloween meant wearing a sombrero and poncho or to dress as a mariachi, never as a superhero. Comic Con is a place where brown people can claim whoever they want to be. Someone might says, “Oh you black superman. You are male Paech.” Once a person of color plays a character, the superhero’s persona extends to encompass the actor’s race.
These three projects work together to celebrate diversity. The fantastic costuming and natural hair tell stories beyond comic books and wrestling plots. Tino tells the stories about the dignity and beauty of his community through the photographs presented here.
Bio
Tino (Brooklyn, New York) is an imagemaker specializing in video and photography. Tino has presented a solo show of mixed media installations titled Gentrification: Brooklyn, NY (2016) at Hampshire College. The exhibition included a series of 11 platinum/palladium print photographs, four 16mm film loops, and two video loops. His current project includes a documentary film and photography of daily Cuban life. Through photography and video, Tino aims to lift his own personal/familial history up into the American narrative. Tino graduated from Hampshire College with a bachelor of arts degree, with a focus in film and photography.
Opening Reception
Thursday, April 19 | 6–9 PM
On View
April 20–22 | By appointment only. Contact: FVidal18@students.icp.edu.
Directions
The ICP-Bard MFA Studios are located at 24-20 Jackson Avenue in Queens. Take the E or M train to Court Square-23rd Street, 7 or G train to Court Square, or the B62 Bus to Jackson Ave/David St.
