Modern Piñatas

Franco Mondini-Ruiz

Exhibition: Sep 20 – Nov 25, 2007


Franco Mondini-Ruiz’s WindowWorks project, Modern Piñatas features a series of hand-made, Paper Mache replicas of seminal paintings and sculptures from the modernist era. The floating piñatas, modeled after works by artistic greats such as Piet Mondrian, Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, and Jeff Koons, reference the commercialization of popular icons. Through the use of the piñata, Mondini-Ruiz resituates the works in a Latino context, alluding to the cross-cultural appropriation of images. The installation comically combines the gallery atmosphere with a fiesta ambiance to question the reverence of high art. The artist’s use of children’s party accessories, built to be filled with candy and beaten apart with a stick, further the distinction between precious material and everyday object.

Artist

Franco Mondini-Ruiz

San Antonio, Texas, USA

Franco Mondini-Ruiz lives in San Antonio, where he was born in 1961.  Retiring from a successful career as a lawyer only a few years ago, Mondini-Ruiz is currently the owner of Infinito Botanica and Gift Shop, where the original botanica’s merchandise is supplemented by Mexican and precolumbian artifacts, thrift store merchandise and artworks by himself and others in Texas and Mexico.

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