Bad Ombrés v.2

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Ronald Rael, Virginia San Fratello, Bad Ombrés v.2, 2017, ceramic, dimensions variable, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Howard Kottler Endowment for Ceramic Art, 2022.53A-F, © 2017, Emerging Objects

Artwork Details

Title
Bad Ombrés v.2
Artists
Date
2017
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
dimensions variable
Copyright
© 2017, Emerging Objects
Credit Line
Museum purchase through the Howard Kottler Endowment for Ceramic Art
Mediums Description
ceramic
Classifications
Object Number
2022.53A-F
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/2022.53A-F

Artwork Description

Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello created these vessels with two different clay materials—one from each side of the US-Mexico border—to form an ombré effect, a gradual blend of one color to another. In early 2017 President Donald J. Trump called out “bad hombres” along the border as part of his campaign to expand border fences. Popular media pointed out that his pronunciation of the Spanish word hombre, which means “man,” sounded more like ombré.


With Bad Ombrés v.2, the artists wish to affirm that, in many ways, the term ombré can refer to a richer understanding of the borderlands, where there is no clear distinction between Mexico and the United States. There is a gradient of languages, cuisine, flora and fauna, and art that is shared across the political boundary.


This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World, 2022

Works by this artist (5 items)

View all artworks
Mr. Imagination (Gregory Warmack), Button Cane with Self-Portrait, mid 1990s, enamel paint on board, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr., 1998.84.20
Button Cane with Self-Portrait
Artist
Datemid 1990s
enamel paint on board
On view
Mr. Imagination (Gregory Warmack), Bottlecap Figure with Mirror, 1991, bottlecaps and mirror on wood, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Chuck and Jan Rosenak and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 1997.124.66
Bottlecap Figure with Mirror
Artist
Date1991
bottlecaps and mirror on wood
On view
Mr. Imagination (Gregory Warmack), Sandstone Art (Indian Head), 1988, carved fused molding sand, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Carl Hammer Gallery and Mr. Imagination, 1991.154
Sandstone Art (Indian Head)
Artist
Date1988
carved fused molding sand
Not on view
Mr. Imagination (Gregory Warmack), King's Portrait, 1990, carved fused molding sand, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mr. Imagination and Carl Hammer Gallery, 1991.45
King’s Portrait
Artist
Date1990
carved fused molding sand
Not on view

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Boardman Robinson, Colorado, from the United States Series, 1946, gouache and watercolor on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Container Corporation of America, 1984.124.252
Colorado, from the United States Series
Artist
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Not on view
Vincent Pepi, #519 Abstraction, 1950, watercolor and gouache on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 1988.36.2
#519 Abstraction
Artist
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watercolor and gouache on paper
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