Edgardo Larregui

The young woman presented in this painting was a model from a local newspaper, published on the front page centerfold to use her image as a product, in hope to sell more newspapers. They commoditized the hope of a every beautiful Puerto Rican young lady who modeled for them, as they were an incentive, a lure, for customers to purchase the paper. As a result, the newspaper was successful and got their “babe collectors”, the usual mechanics, construction workers, barber shops, manufacturing plants, and government agencies, who would paste them all over the walls of their workplace. The flying brands you see are product labels picked up around the streets of the most infamous area of city, La Perla. The brands are an invasion of consumer products, which invade you as you journey through this island colony. Unfortunately, we see this tactic replicated throughout advertisement globally, women today are treated as another successful media product to promote or sell something. As you can see the nature is protecting her. These paintings are a reflection of Puerto Rico’s past and present, while being a reflection of its society today through .