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.
