Fragmented Cities, Santa Catarina, 2007, from the Suburbia Mexicana Project, by Alejandro Cartagena

Alejandro Cartagena

Website:www.alejandrocartagena.com

Artist statement:
These images are part of a series that tells the complex story of urban development and its layers of growth and decay. Through my research in contemporary urban theory and by freely connecting multiple routes of explanation, like in a psychological free-association, my photographs represent the causes and effects of new suburban sprawl in the metropolitan area of Monterrey, Mexico. While I do not overtly condemn these development projects, I openly engage a critically dense examination of the complicated balance existing between economically driven states, and the yearning of a society for a fairer world in which to live.

Bio:
b. 1977, Dominican Republic. Alejandro lives and works in Monterrey, Mexico. He is an artist, teacher, lecturer, writer and promoter of photography. His projects are primarily documentary-based, exploring landscape as well as portraiture as a way to examine social, urban and environmental issues of Latin America. His work has been exhibited and published internationally and is in several public and private collections in Mexico, USA and Italy. He is recipient of several major national grants, numerous honorable mentions and acquisition prizes in Mexico and abroad. He is currently seeking his Masters in visual arts as he continues his photographic projects about the Mexican landscape.