Lecture #1

Framing Identity-Faded Glory
Rafael Blanco de San Roman

Rafael Blanco de San Roman’s work and its unique relevance were discussed in this lecture on Framing Identity, Faded Glory, as well as his history as it pertains to his work. Rafael is also celebrating his graduation for his MFA from the University of Nevada, Reno. Originally Rafael is from Spain, where there is a lot of tension due to different believes between regions, both currently and historically. Rafael’s two passions in life are art and tennis; he pursued both when he moved to the US, although he had a tennis scholarship Raphael had fallen more in love with Art. After moving from Florida to California Rafael eventually chose to finish out his schooling in the Arts in Reno, Nevada. Rafael’s, Faded Glory, is a depiction of his journey as well as his views on the differences in cultural as well as patriotism.

Raphael’s work encompasses so much more than meets the eye. Although his previous works were painting portraits and flamenco dancers, he eventually had many mediums as well as content, but was mainly focused on American art. To Raphael the patriotism in the US is much more prominent than in Spain. He also finds it interesting how much more sacred our symbolism of the flag is looked at. So for Faded Glory, Raphael would make giant flags as well as other patriotic pieces and over exaggerates what we usually see so that we may understand just how much it stands out to him. Rafael also has many paintings and photographs of similar content. Then he also thought it was funny that a Spaniard was making art so invested in another culture. So, Rafael decided to also film himself while he created his art. His passion can be seen through his art to successful portray just how another culture may view the US. Raphael’s exaggerated art is beautiful and unique in that there is so much more meaning to it than would be originally thought when looking at his work.

Faded Glory has such a beautiful meaning as well as demonstrating to be very visually successful. Raphael’s background is very important in his work in order to show how his past has intertwined with his present life. Raphael’s work also makes one realize how important it is to value your country and its patriotism, as well as not to take it for granted since other countries are not as lucky as we have been.