HARD ON
GUNS, GOLD & GOD
Arlington Museum of Art
October 20, 2023 - January 7, 2024
ABOUT THIS EXHIBIT
Hard On Guns, Gold and God is a group of selected sculptures and installations arching a decade of artworks to a new artistic focus. The idea of bringing these samples together from previous series and future ones came from the museum's current theme of "Legacy."
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chosen artworks from past series
Blind Faith
2015
This sculpture was not created as part of a specific series. However, it illustrates Vallarino's interests on topics of faith and fire arms.
Pedacitos de Paz
2016- ongoing
"Pedacitos de Paz" is primarily an installation featuring mounds of white commemorative ribbons inundating a small desk with a desktop magnifying glass. The ribbons are added every time a new tragedy spawned by violence takes place. The purpose of this installation is to illustrate the duplicity of human’s attitudes towards peace and how violence cannot be stopped by the futile actions of thinking, wishing and praying. Conceptually, each commemorative ribbon represents any of those ephemeral actions that are incapable of real change.
Tarjetas con Pedacitos de Paz para las Victimas de Violencia Armada
La Plegaria, el Pensamiento y el Deseo de Paz Más Importante
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The Butterfly Case
2019-2023
The Butterfly Case is a series of mixed media sculptures, installations, and other interdisciplinary artworks merging religious elements with components of entomological displays. These artworks touch on themes of apathy, racism, and classicism towards groups including minorities, migrants, and the houseless through ornate, precious, doctrine-evoking displays.
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Rationalizing Beads ( Anglican rosary bead count)
All life is sacred and must be protected, no human is inherently more important than another, and though we may look different from one another, the infinite nature of the Divine means that we are all equally created
artworks for new future series
Bugging Fetish
The artworks and series of works from this new conceptual path are driven by merging the dual meaning of the word "fetish" (an object believed to have magical powers of protection or luck aiding the one who holds it, as well as the sexual fascination with an object, body part, or sexual act) in order to describe our global relationship with fire arms.
Indecent Exposure
El Martirio de Venus ( collaboration with Ariel Davis)
A series of tattooed and flocked mannequins.
Wet dreams of a Golden Idol
A series of wearables and photographs inspired by this painting.
WARSHIP
A series of substantially sized works inspired by S&M objects.
1. Glock 17L
A series of equally produced collage paintings as 1. Glock 17L.