Eugenio Recuenco’s String Diaspora
Issue 01 contributor Eugenio Recuenco recently updated his portfolio with a striking series of 12 images that span very different eras and cultures, all of which are united by one main character: the violin. The larger images can be seen on Recuenco’s site, and the full series can be seen here, after the cut.
In this series, the violin travels from the plains of Africa to an Indian bazaar, from an Elizabethan parlor to a pirate ship, from the hands of a white-clad nun to the laps of two conjoined Geisha twins. While it’s certainly a tribute to the universality of music, many of the images also seem to contain messages about culture, gender and inequality. In the image of Africa, the violins are represented as crops barely growing out of the parched soil. In the image depicting the Islamic world, one burqa-clad woman wearing black gloves points her violin bow accusingly at her fellow player, whose bare hands are exposed – a reference to the modesty police found in many countries in the Middle East, including Israel. The American image seems to represent a two-party system orchestrating a rigid conformity. Interestingly, many of the images feature a visibly artificial background. In the Eskimo image, the sky is merely a cheap-looking painted sheet. The wallpaper in the Elizabethan image is stitched out of old rags. In fact, the images that appear to look the most “real” are the ones rooted in fantasy, such like the pirate, modern primitive, and fiddler on the factory roof.
April 5th, 2010 at 4:26 pm
Ok; wow.
April 5th, 2010 at 10:10 pm
[…] Coilhouse » Blog Archive » Eugenio Recuenco’s String Diaspora "Issue 01 contributor Eugenio Recuenco recently updated his portfolio with a striking series of 12 images that span very different eras and cultures, all of which are united by one main character: the violin. The larger images can be seen on Recuenco’s site, and the full series can be seen here, after the cut." (tags: art illustration symbolism history portfolio) […]
April 7th, 2010 at 3:40 pm
The image you describe as ‘Elizabethan’ fascinates me, particularly as it isn’t in fact purely ‘Elizabethan’ at all – whilst the man holding the stitches taught is in full 15th-century garb, the violinist’s wide skirts, white puff of hair and black beauty mark seem to be from closer to the Georgian era. Her white powder is also – bizarrely – spread everywhere EXCEPT on her face. So many little details!
April 7th, 2010 at 3:50 pm
These are fascinating. Wow.
Mwezzi, that particular image is confusing to me as well… for the reasons you mentioned, in addition to the fact that she’s holding the violin so untraditionally. (The violin is almost always cradled against the left shoulder, and the bow is held with the right hand.) It’s the only image in the series where this occurs. Normally I’d roll my eyes and say “oh, great, another fashion designers abusing instruments as props… and throwing in a “Safety Dance” wardrobed little person from a completely different era for good measure. Bah.” But it’s RECUENCO. I trust him. And there’s a really powerful, thoughtful cultural subtext running through the entire series. I don’t completely get this image, but I definitely get the sense that the anachronisms are purposeful.
Anyway, the whole series is really interesting. Thanks, Nadya!
April 7th, 2010 at 3:57 pm
Mwezzi, you’re right. I couldn’t actually figure out what time period it was, and went by the ruff (’cause of my fixation on them, which is well-documented). I dated a period costume designer for a couple of years, which has trained me to do my best to get the time period right (as opposed to, you know, describing everything Ye Olde-looking as “Victorian.”) Thanks so much for providing the detailed description of time periods here, and noting the detail of the powder, which I actually missed the first time around!