The Caprichos, by Emily Lombardo, is a series of 80 etchings which are in direct conversation and homage to Francisco Goya's Los Caprichos, 1799. Both series reveal the dark underbelly of cultural movements which ultimately serve to divide society across economic, racial, political, religious, and gender lines. Goya's series explores the artist’s dissatisfaction and disgust with humanity’s follies during the Enlightenment, a period in which much of the Western world embraced reason and scientific discovery, yet the artist’s native Spain experienced devastating wars, economic humiliation, and religious fanaticism. Though inspired by the troubles of his country, humanity’s failings as exposed in Goya’s prints are universal; they reveal the problem of all cultural movements to potentially give way to a level of fascism and inequity. Lombardo continues this investigation within the modern, globalized world, bringing these same issues into contemporary light through a queer feminist lens.  The use of recognizable politicians, celebrities, events, and institutions make The Caprichos instantly accessible to present-day audiences.

In plate 12, What a Tailor Can Do!,the duplicity of using the Space Race as a means to continue the Cold War is depicted. While the nation rallied behind the mission to the moon, government money went to missile development and the war movement in Vietnam.  The scene exposes the Space Race as an arms race, while also displaying both the populace’s ignorance of and complacency in the situation.

This print is one of a suite of 12 etchings from the series which were published by Childs Gallery in an edition of 12. This edition was printed at The Center for Contemporary Printmaking (Norwalk, CT) by printer Paul Deruvo. Suites from The Caprichos are in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Boston Public Library.  The artist’s work also was featured recently in the Allentown Art Museum’s exhibition Francisco Goya: Los Caprichos.

Emily Lombardo is an artist who has been living and working in Boston for over 15 years. She received her BFA from The Massachusetts College of Art and Design and her MFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts. Lombardo applies her vast knowledge of sculpture and printing for conceptual purposes, which allows her work to extend to a wide range of mediums. She is concerned with issues of appropriation, and views these practices as a means to explore personal and cultural identity.  The artist engages in appropriation with specific attention to a high level of craft, which ensures a contemporary dialogue between her work and the work that she is referencing.

The exhibition will be on view in Childs' print room through January 10, 2015 and can be previewed online at childsgallery.com