Dwarf Bullfighters

Enanitos Toreros

Livia Corona is an extremely talented photographer from Mexico. In between her other hectic work gigs, she managed to escape whenever she could in order to document a community within a community in her native country. For a span of 10 years, Livia lived with these cast of characters — she woke up with them, spent the day with them, spoke to their families, visited their shows, etc. The result is a new retrospective book published by powerHouse Books available next week.

Jauretsi: Why Dwarf bullfighting? How did you bump into this niche?

Livia Corona: Enanitos Toreros started in a very casual way when a woman, who is a little person, invited me to tour with her team of dwarf bullfighters, after I made her a headshot. Through her I met other little people who also invited me to their shows and to their homes. With time I realized that there is not a great deal of common knowledge about dwarfism and, consequently, there are many false ideas and much discomfort about the subject. I was interested in the space between these two factions.

What aspect of their lives did you find the most surprising in all your years of documenting them?

I was, and am, struck by how dwarfism, in a sense, remains a sort of “last minority” which culture can discriminate against. Seems that the blanket of political correctness skipped this part of our society altogether. We became accustomed, through handed-down outlooks, to think of people with dwarfism in a very specific and limited way. In the interviews for my book, many people say they feel just fine with themselves. Recently one of the Enanitos Toreros told me, “My normal side is myself reflected in the mirror.” Tallness could be the outsider in this case. It’s relative, and irrelevant in the end. The book is about a lot of things, but mainly an effort to get past the spectacle and re-portray dwarfism in a way that made sense to me, having people with dwarfism as friends.

What is your next project?

I am finishing a documentary film about the Enanitos Toreros which I started along with the photos for the book. I am also working on a second book, “Two Million Homes for Mexico.” It is about definitions of family patrimony and cultural legacy via real estate.

(Enanitos Toreros, the book)
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The Book launch party is this Friday July 18, 6-10pm at powerHouse Arena in Brooklyn — 37 Main St., BK, 11201. To RSVP, email icumexny@sre.gob.mx.

To see more of Livia’s body of work, go to liviacorona.com

Graphic of the Day: Dog

Dogbehindthefence
Mark Delong
10 x 13 inches
pencil on paper
$150.00

Today’s graphic just made me laugh when I saw it. The drawing is actually available for $150 at TVBookShop, or email tim@tvbookshop.com

NYC Weekend

(KRS One performing onstage this last weekend in Brooklyn)

This photo was taken by the lovely photographer James Gooding who swung through New York this weekend and attended the 4th Annual Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival. It was a beautiful day and a powerful show. Other artists included old-school classics such as DJ Premiere. Smif & Wessun, and Buckshot.

See more of his body of work at James Gooding Portfolio.
J

Waterfalls + NYC

“Water has this fantastic ability to be everything for everybody.” - Olafur Eliasson

On view until October 13th.

Not spanking brand news, but art thats worth praising in our hectic city. Causing much controversy, Olafur Eliasson’s “New York City Waterfalls” opened this last Thursday, June 26th, and is the city’s grandest pulic art commission since “The Gates” in 2005, which were displayed in Central Park.

Mayor Bloomberg called the project “a triumph of human imagination and mechanical engineering”. The project was commissioned by the Public Art Fund at $15.5 million.

Whether the cost of the project was too much, or you don’t consider it art, or you find the whole concept ludicrous - look at it first before you make a decision. I plan to ride my bike to each of the four waterfalls to decide for myself and it’ll be interesting to see if the $15.5 million project brings the economic activity of $55 million estimated by Mayor Bloomberg. Nonetheless, this is why I love NYC - whether you agree or disagree, there’s always something that causes you to find your beliefs.

The urban Waterfalls are at these spots:
• Pier 35 in Manhattan, near South and Rutgers Streets north of the Manhattan Bridge
• The Brooklyn tower of the Brooklyn Bridge
• Piers 4 and 5 in Brooklyn, west of the Brooklyn Heights Promenade
• The North Shore of Governors Island.

They will be turned on every day from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., except on Tuesdays and Thursdays, when they will be activated at 9 a.m. After sunset, the waterfalls will be lighted by light-emitting diodes. (See viewing information.)

The NY Times is encouraging readers to submit their own photos of the “Waterfalls” by e-mail. - The New York Times

Photos by Vincent Laforet/New York Times

Graphic of the Day: Geoff McFetridge

Today’s Graphic lies on a chunk of Oak Heartwood doodled by Geoff McFetridge.
It’s a Limited Edition.

Monster Dice
Laser Etched Solid European Oak Heartwood
13.5 x 13.5 x 13.5 cm
Edition of 200 (2007)
$259.00

Before McFetridge was doing ads for Pepsi, he paid his dues working hard and long hours as Art Director for the indie mag, Grand Royal. He was 24 years old. It was the Beastie Boys magazine and it reigned supreme from 1993-1997. The Lee Scratch Perry issue was a classic, and the first ever “laugh out loud” article rant on Mullets before it was hip to laugh at mullets. It’s a veritable collectors item and cluster of essays from the Beasties’ inner posse during a very special time in history within the independent music scene, and the burst of street/skate culture. If you bump into one on a bookshelf, pull it out. It’s still a meaty read today.

After the mag Grand Royal retired, McFetridge moved on to open his own firm in 1996, Champion Graphics. He co-founded Directors Bureau too with a stellar stable of Directors. The list of clients and work is way too extensive, but you can get lost in this Official Site for DB.

To see more of Geoff’s illustrations, go to King of Mountain.

To purchase the Monster Dice (and read what the narrative on the block means), go here.