Plaza de Toros

Plaza de Toros is a relief print that addresses the romanticism of violence along with gender roles between men and women.  The work begins with vintage poster designs from the history of bullfighting in Spain. The concept of gender roles is influenced by no gender desiring to be submissive to the other.  Being submissive is seen as a negative in today’s social shifts prompted by pop culture.  Today, people desire equality and personal autonomy. Surrendering control is a sign of weakness, leading to exploitation or willingly becoming a slave. Within this work, I have presented a woman in the dominant role as a matador full of strength, confidence, and determination.  She has the ability to impose her will and express her dominance as a spectacle seeking an audience.  Like a Hellenistic tragic statue, the masculine takes on the symbol of the bull with an imposing figure but has been battered and broken down to become submissive.

The romanticism of violence in today’s culture has been normalized into abusive behaviors that tend to be associated with passionate displays of heroism, but within the same perception, can also be seen as brutality and the deconstruction of morality.  There is very little censorship of violence, and children especially have difficulty understanding what is acceptable or impermissible violence. 

Plaza de Toros

24” x 36”

relief print linoleum