Silva, Lowe, Guerrero, Quesnell, and Venegas at the CA Center for the Arts - Innocence is Questionable

Conceived to promote and encourage dialogue, reflection, and social interaction about San Diego's artistic and cultural life, the exhibition, Innocence is Questionable, will celebrate the accomplishments of six renowned local artists: Jean Lowe, Ernest Silva, Raul Guererro, Iana Quesnell, Yvonne Venegas, and May-Ling Martinez, all recipients of the 06/07 San Diego Art Prize. By bringing awareness to the contemporary landscape and our place within it, each artist struggles with time and its impact on community, place, and the individual. By looking at historical precedents, mapping the physical environment and documenting the interconnectedness of all things, each artist explores one’s own history—how it’s constructed, where it begins and ends. Using the familiar, and sometimes the banal, to draw the viewer in, they make reference to the subtle complexities of an idealized image of the past in the face of the reality of the present. Ultimately, what each of these artists question is whether or not the folly of the world is the responsibility of man?

Left to right:
Raul Guerrero, Hot Dog: Wienerschnitzel, 2006. Image courtesy of the artist.
May-Ling Martinez, Bagged, 2007. Image courtesy of the artist.
Ernest Silva, Swing, Fireplace, Deer, 2006. Image courtesy of the artist.