Brittany Kennedy 7/22/10 UTSA New Arte Nuevo: San Antonio 2010

The UTSA art gallery currently has the New Arte Nuevo Exhibition up and the work is exceptional and one of the best group shows I have seen at UTSA in a while. The works as a whole have a conversation that speaks a visual intriguing language engaging the viewer immediately. Marina I. Salinas has photographic prints that are very political and personal to her cultural experiences. They raise the issue of equality and balance between two separate worlds which have become one for her. The background of her Mexican heritage combined with the pursuant of the American dream in America which include the transitions of holding onto her family and cultural traditions while adapting American ways and traditions. This sense of balance in the midst of personal or internal chaos reads through the content of the images. The images present themselves as simple formal elements in terms of shape however the contrast between the colors and the conversation created between the "old" and "new" allow the viewer to engage mentally in ways that allow the mind to travel in terms of content. The saturation and tonal ranges within the colors in "Raices Abandonadas 1" read as personal and aged. The attention to detail is aesthetically appeasing while the depths of the shadows draw the viewer into the personal space of ones bedroom. The light source creating a halo of light along the right wall is an intriguing aspect as well causing the viewer to wonder where the light is illuminating from and placing themselves in the space of the photograph to imagine the actuality of being in this bedroom. Salinas choice in content is a vital issue for many today which raise interest in viewers from the content to the overall formal and conceptual elements of the photograph allowing each viewer to connect in their own way without losing what the intentions of the photographs are.