Jan Castaneda
04.29.18
Professor Cacoilo
Self: I As Image
NJCU BFA Exhibit: Maria Lupianez [Raising Men]
The exhibit I have chosen to visit was the New Jersey City University: Bachelor of Fine Arts Art Show, I decided to support one of my former classmates who was exhibiting some of her work. Ms. Lupianez's work involved her family, but specifically her sons, whom she claims as a large part of her identity. Her work depicts her sons goofing off or expressing emotions that society does not expect of men. For example, one of her paintings is of her and her son hugging, showing that men are capable of more than stereotypical emotions such as anger or rowdiness but, they are also able to show compassion. Ms. Lupianez explains that she desired to "show the tender side of men," and it is the reasoning behind her portrait of her and her son hugging.
Ms. Lupianez explains that she lives in a household with ten children, nine of whom are boys. Aside from the exhibit, my encounter with her in a previous class we took together, she takes pride in working on projects involving her family, especially her kids. Therefore, using her sons as her subject for the gallery could not be any more fitting. Rather than using herself to depict her identity, she uses her children who uphold a large part of her self-identification. Most images depicting men, especially paintings, portray them as brooding and in a historical perspective, they are shown with some form of reverence. However, Ms. Lupianez has shown off the "softer" side of men and that they can be funny, sad, and that they are not all meant to be superhuman, they are just normal "life-loving" creatures.
Joanne Finkelstein states in her book The Art of Self Invention, "We are in an era where impressions matter, and where reputation is both an asset and liability." (Finkelstein. 122) People subject men to suppressing their abilities to show empathy and compassion, but Ms. Lupianez refuses to conform to that idea. She says that she does not particularly enjoy capturing her sons in moments of sadness but, she explains that boys do cry, as if we have become accustomed to the idea that such incidents do not occur. Her intention was to show that there is this more "human" side to men, especially amongst her own kids. In addition, Finkelstein states that "The social activities of contemporary everyday life... we follow rules and conventions without resistance or second thought." (Finkelstein. 92) Ms. Lupianez has decided to break conventions of depicting strictly herself solely in an image but, also depict her sons in a more endearing light.
Works Cited
Finkelstein, Joanne. The Art of Self Invention. London: I.B. Tauris, 2007.
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