Platform: Ricardo Partida

For his Platform show Partida chose a series titled Bridgeport to Heaven, which consists of sensual avatars that obscure self and subject to embody power and desire. As elucidated by the title, Bridgeport To Heaven refers to Partida’s relationship to his neighbourhood Bridgeport in Chicago, Illinois and the space he occupies within it. As Bridgeport is a heavily patrolled area, slammed between the Pilsen Latino neighbourhood and Chinatown, it provides a unique hybridity of cultures and settings from which to draw inspiration. 

A focal theme in these works is the portrayal of contradictions, ambiguity and the human state. The jewel-toned hues, as well as the gestural lines and veils of oil paint applied thinly, as if watercolour, brilliantly exemplify Partida’s artistic vernacular. The interplay between the vivid colours, detailed and loose brushwork creates immersive compositions. The bold use of colour further accentuates the sense of tension.  An interesting element in these works is the piercing gaze and expressivity of each subject, which according to the artist is reflective of his experience navigating hetero spaces as a gay man. 

“As a brown gay man, the gaze is usually key to negotiating and navigating these environments- a person’s gaze can inform one of different things, whether it's desire or danger."

In these works, the centralised figure’s gaze often creates a push and pull of desire and hostility by complicating seductive stands with an aggressive pent-up energy. Though the subjects may sometime morph and change, they remain consistent of the “Fag Fatale”, Partida’s idea of an effeminate man bringing the world down to its knees. Queerness is not just a subject in Partida’s paintings but a focal element of his attempt to outline a space for the LGBTQ experience within the western pictorial tradition, by creating "a naughty, dark, and sexy world".