Into The Red

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Every great mind explores those deep, dark memories which are created in childhood and then tucked safely away in the subconscious, but great artists go one step further. They not only delve into that subconscious and extract those strange memories like a metal rocket tube pulling up Chilean miners, but then they put those memories on display and invite the entire world to witness.
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.Today is the birthday of one of those burgeoning artists, and one of our favorites, Alexander Guerra. And to celebrate his day, we want to share his "Red" series, which just knocks us out.
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In "Red", Guerra gives us a new take on the children's story, "Little Red Riding Hood". "Red" is a paen to the traditional aspects of the story: the innocent being pursued by the villain, (the universally understood conflict of Good vs. Evil), and Guerra adds a layer of homoeroticism with both main characters in possession of a beautiful musculature and very little clothing. But then the series gets really interesting when Guerra adds a third character, The Voyeur, complete with video camera. It's almost as if Guerra is playing with the idea that childhood stories are so familiar that we feel we've actually seen the characters, that we've "watched them" in our minds over and over, and The Voyeur is the personification of "watching" those familiar characters. But, of course, to others, the Voyeur conjures images of something erotic and "dirty", a peeping tom if you will, which means that he's there because something erotic in nature is about to take place between Red and The Wolf, which draws us in to watch, in effect making us the eager Voyeurs. One also can't happen but notice that Guerra is a red-head, which makes us wonder if the "Little Red Riding Hood" story was particularly significant to his childhood.
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But whatever the meaning of Guerra's "Red" series, it's an entirely intriguing and thought-provoking piece, and we absolutely can't wait to see what else can be plumbed from the depths of the mind of this gifted young artist.
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To see more of Alexander Guerra's work, go to www.PlastiqueHouse.com.