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Beautiful Drawings Of Children At Play, But There’s More Happening Here

A brief glance is enough to tell you that the new Blue Star Arts Complex exhibit is very impressive, but a deeper look will give you a lot more insight. They’re all beautiful, highly intricate drawings of children at play.

“The children are technically rendered so expertly that, even if you don’t at first discover the deeper meaning, you really appreciate them for the quality of the drawing.”

The Blue Star’s Mary Heathcott is talking about Fernando Andrade’s work, which is almost photographic in its clarity.

“And unlike photographs, Fernando chooses to exclude the background. You kind of imagine what would be around these figures. What’s missing?”

A child hides in a cardboard box, something we all did as kids.

“He could be playing just a childish game of hide and seek, or maybe hiding from something that’s much more terrible.”

The dark edge to these works of art isn’t random; it comes from experience.

“These have a very personal resonance with Fernando, because he grew upon in Mexico along the border, and he actually lost a close friend due to border violence.”

The drawings seem to work on two levels, and at the same time.

“What a wonderful drawing of children playing. But then when you get a closer look, you start to understand.”

We’ve more on 'Tierra & Libertad' here.

Jack Morgan can be reached at jack@tpr.org and on Twitter at @JackMorganii