CHRISTINA KOCI HERNANDEZ

NEWS

2009-The Smithsonian American Art Museum has acquired Hernandez's collection of boxing images,16 in total, from 1997, the generous gift of Kenneth B. Pearl.
http://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/results/?id=29145

Upcoming Events

Opening Reception of Christina Koci Hernandez: "Ambiguous Times"

at SLATE art & design, Oakland, CA

4770 Telegraph Ave (& 48th)

Oakland, CA 94609

PH: 510-652-4085

FX: 510-444-4085

SLATE art & design is pleased to present the solo exhibition of Christina Koci Hernandez, titled "Ambiguous Times" from November 6–28th.

Friday May 1st through June 2nd

Artist opening reception: Friday May 1st, 2009 | 5:00pm to 9:00pm

Slate Art and Design

Opening Night Reception: Friday April 3rd 2009 7-9pm

4770 Telegraph Ave., Oakland

While many photographers are compelled to stage their models, I can't get enough of documenting the strange and wonderful world around me. I enjoy tiptoeing around the lives I follow, so often infused with oddness and warmth. I admire the lack of inhibition I find through my lens. So many subjects I photograph are capable of confronting life head-on, less concerned than many as to what the opinions of others might be. Maybe I live vicariously through my subjects, celebrating their parculiar forms of bravery and joy. Human behavior has never ceased to amaze me. Documenting lives so different than mine forces me to be an eternal student and to leave my comfort zone in hopes of seeing lives through a different lense.

Tease and Everyday Mutations explore alter-egos and veiled identities. The photographs bear witness to those who have chosen to actualize fantasies. For the burlesque performers, seduction and whimsy are lived-out on the stage. Pro wrestlers employ physical theater to explore the archetypes of good and evil. And in both cases, the audiences allow themselves to participate on an emotional level.

The City explores personal isolation in the American city. It is an ongoing project.

Burlesque has returned to the San Francisco Bay Area. The revival of this performance art brings back subtlety to seduction in a culture desensitized to sex. In small cafes,bars and art venues, women in the Bay Area are bumping and grinding, combining eroticism, humor and dance.

^{Burlesque and San Francisco have always been comfortable bed fellows. San Francisco's Barbary Coast was a popular hangout for the rich during the Gold Rush. Known for gambling, prostitution and crime, the area was an obvious choice for vaudeville and burlesque. Modern-day San Francisco is still an obvious choice for self-expression. The Bay Area is a haven for experimental art and vanguard movements. Upon entering these clubs, with women clad in fishnets and pasties, it is hard to decipher the City's past from the present.

The "un-Hollywood" figures of the performers force us to confront the allure of real women and real bodies.

The modern burlesque performer reminds us that subtlety is potent. The emphasis is on the "tease," in "striptease." Unlike popular ideals of sex and beauty, these dancers come from straight and lesbian communities, bodies ranging from slender to large. The burlesque performer decides when and how she might reveal secrets to the audience. She holds the power.}

Everyday Mutations explores the world of imaginary heroes and villains in the world of homespun professional wrestling.

^{Contrary to the glamorous arenas seen on television, these venues are found in the familiar settings of suburban garages, storefronts and parking lots. After ending their day at work and stepping into the ring as their rehearsed characters, these individuals transform into demigods. Alter egos, such as "Wolfman," "Stepdaddy" and "The Russian" taunt the audience and reveal hidden fury. Within a defined space, the spectators are face to face with good versus evil. Everyone present has made a choice to participate in this archetypal fantasy.

Although it is understood that the sagas observed are a bluff, the passions from the crowd are in no way diminished. Surprisingly brash words are hurled at the wrestlers, fists flying in the air, and voices becoming hoarse from screaming. In many ways, the ring is a convenient domain where our personal demons and desires can confront one another.

Neighborhood pro wrestling seems an anecdote to the intimacy we have lost in an increasingly detached society. As the wrestlers play with identity, rage and humor, onlookers are encouraged to emote on a visceral level. No one mentions the obvious farce before them. It is simply time to give one self over to the primal.}

After working for the past 13 years as an award-winning staff photojournalist for both the San Francisco Examiner and the San Francisco Chronicle, I recently left to pursue my personal fine art projects on a full-time basis. My career in editorial was enriching and allowed me to hone my personal vision, with images also appearing in the New Yorker, the New York Times, Editor and Publisher and Philadelphia Inquirer. My current fine art projects are personal documentary journeys as voyeur into secret worlds: Venues where people change identities from day to night.

Images are shot exclusively with available light on 120 black and white film, made with medium format cameras: Mamiya and Holga. All images are gelatin silver prints in editions of 15.

All images in the series featured on this website are produced in limited editions.
They are available for acquisition and exhibition, and may be considered for appropriate licensing requests. Contact the artist to discuss these and other creative commissions and collaborations.