Christian Ruiz Berman | Menagerie

Menagerie (a whole bag of different animals was turned upside down)

Utilizing resources as diverse as Japanese ukiyo-e printing, Mariachi ballads, and Mexican Folklore to the confrontation of indigenous, European, and even Tibetan Buddhist symbology, Berman creates a complex layered tale. “These amalgamations of proverbs or sayings (such as “we’ll burn that bridge when we get to it”) become humorous jumping-off points to comment on society or philosophy. They also mirror the general nature of the my work, which is at root a remix and a reinvention of expected tropes and real objects, a visual archaeology akin to collage and intent on portraying the ways that the juxtaposition of disparate elements (i.e. abstraction and figuration, digital and physical, connected and removed etc) can work to create fresh and cohesive combinations and viewpoints.”