Self-Portrait
February 20, 2017
From idyllic and masterful, to troubling yet whimsical artwork, Ed Fraga has allowed himself to travel along the spectrum of technique and content to truly develop a cohesive, strong voice driving his work. Exploring religious, social, cultural, and personal themes, Fraga's main medium is painting, but he also works within sculpture and photography in order to express his concepts fully. He's quoted his favorite artist, Louise Bourgeois, "art exists because of emotions and ideas" as a belief he holds for his own.
Graduating from Wayne State University in 1980 with a Bachelors of Fine Arts, Fraga's work is a part of the collections of the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Flint Institute of Arts, the Cranbrook Art Museum, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, and Wayne State University. Over time his work has evolved, as he's matured and explored different vessels for his work to be realized.
Self-portrait is one of the seven of Ed Fraga's self-portraits in the Wayne State Art Collection, their inception ranging from 1972 - 1986. This piece from 1986 is a realistically rendered portrait of Fraga in a distorted, surrealistic setting. With a simple blue shirt on staring straight at the viewer, Fraga is against a bright turquoise background, which is in the larger context of the outdoors. This painting speaks on person and place hood, and how that can affect the dynamic of personality and identity.
Text by Emily Lane Borden