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Untitled, from the series, Ricas y Famosas, 1999

25-year-old Daniela Rossell, a New York artist originally from Mexico City is showing two series of works -- "Ricas y Famosas" and "Olympic Tower" -- at [/] Greene Naftali Gallery, NY [/] Daniela Rossell at Greene Naftali Gallery

Rossell's subjects include the sexy stepdaughter of Mexico's notorious exiled president, Carlos Salinas, as well as a teen prostitute seated by a rooftop jacuzzi and a nubile high school girl in a tennis outfit. Weaving society portraiture, theater and Orientalism into a contemporary Baroque, the photographs are over-the-top depictions of people living in a real-life fantasy world. Rossell has smartly enticed them to pose in these preposterous environments, embracing the clashing décor -- ornate gilt-framed mirrors and chandeliers, colorful patterned rugs and velvet throws, religious icons and garish portrait paintings. [/] max henry, artnet.com

[/] Witte de With, center for contemporary art, Rotterdam Coartadas / Alibis April 14 - June 16, 2002 Coartadas / Alibis provides a critical perspective on Mexican society. Increasing globalization has in recent years sharpened the social and economic contrasts in Mexico. Multinationals have a stranglehold on the national economy, the people suffer under shortages, and some population groups are structurally marginalized. The government fails to provide an answer to these problems. The tension between the traditional political order and the need for social change manifests itself prominently in the megalopolis Mexico City whose inhabitants confront daily uncertainties with various survival strategies.

[/] San Diego Museum of Art Vital Forms: American Art and Design in the Atomic Age, 1940-1960 October 26, 2002-January 26, 2003 Organized by the San Diego Museum of Art, this exhibition features significant works by the current generation of Mexican contemporary artists who engage aspects of the present Mexican context from the perspective of the cosmopolitan sphere.