Through a diverse collection of essays on the history of art of the Americas, this book explores the cultural, political, and environmental legacy of bananas from viceregal painting and nineteenth century photography to contemporary Latinx and Caribbean Art.Through sixteen original essays by leading art historians, this anthology traces the banana's remarkable journey from colonial still lifes to contemporary installations. The collection examines how artists have deployed this tropical fruit to challenge imperial narratives, visualize labor struggles, and reclaim cultural identities. Expanding on the award winning digital humanities project Banana Craze, this volume presents a comprehensive analysis of banana imagery across diverse media-religious murals, archival photographs, avant garde paintings, and performance art. Each chapter illuminates how artists from Latin America, the Caribbean, and their diasporas have transformed this ubiquitous commodity into a complex visual metaphor that speaks to histories of exploitation, ecological devastation, and artistic resistance.This book will appeal to scholars of art history, visual culture, Latin American and Caribbean studies, postcolonial theory, and environmental humanities.Chapter 1 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

Through a diverse collection of essays on the history of art of the Americas, this book explores the cultural, political, and environmental legacy of bananas from viceregal painting and nineteenth century photography to contemporary Latinx and Caribbean Art.Through sixteen original essays by leading art historians, this anthology traces the banana's remarkable journey from colonial still lifes to contemporary installations. The collection examines how artists have deployed this tropical fruit to challenge imperial narratives, visualize labor struggles, and reclaim cultural identities. Expanding on the award winning digital humanities project Banana Craze, this volume presents a comprehensive analysis of banana imagery across diverse media-religious murals, archival photographs, avant garde paintings, and performance art. Each chapter illuminates how artists from Latin America, the Caribbean, and their diasporas have transformed this ubiquitous commodity into a complex visual metaphor that speaks to histories of exploitation, ecological devastation, and artistic resistance.This book will appeal to scholars of art history, visual culture, Latin American and Caribbean studies, postcolonial theory, and environmental humanities.Chapter 1 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

Through a diverse collection of essays on the history of art of the Americas, this book explores the cultural, political, and environmental legacy of bananas from viceregal painting and nineteenth‑century photography to contemporary Latinx and Caribbean Art.Through sixteen original essays by leading art historians, this anthology traces the banana’s remarkable journey from colonial still lifes to contemporary installations. The collection examines how artists have deployed this tropical fruit to challenge imperial narratives, visualize labor struggles, and reclaim cultural identities. Expanding on the award‑winning digital humanities project Banana Craze, this volume presents a comprehensive analysis of banana imagery across diverse media—religious murals, archival photographs, avant‑garde paintings, and performance art. Each chapter illuminates how artists from Latin America, the Caribbean, and their diasporas have transformed this ubiquitous commodity into a complex visual metaphor that speaks to histories of exploitation, ecological devastation, and artistic resistance.This book will appeal to scholars of art history, visual culture, Latin American and Caribbean studies, postcolonial theory, and environmental humanities.Chapter 1 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

In Negative Originals, Juanita Solano Roa explores race and identity through photographic practices in late nineteenth-century MedellÍn, Colombia. Focusing on the photographic studios of FotografÍa RodrÍguez and BenjamÍn de la Calle, Solano Roa examines the visual construction and dissemination of racial ideologies and the linkage of race to progress. She studies both positive and negative prints to highlight the juxtaposition of traditional portraiture, which reinforced prevailing racial ideologies, and subversive depictions of often excluded individuals such as cross-dressers, peasants, the poor, and Afro-Colombians. In redefining photography’s role, Solano Roa shifts the critic’s eye from traditional positive prints to negatives, exposing the form’s material, symbolic, and spatial significance. In doing so, she simultaneously uncovers new perspectives on the medium and challenges hegemonic histories. Engaging one of Latin America’s most important photographic archives, Solano Roa addresses urgent gaps in the history of Colombian and Latin American photography, particularly at the intersection of race, gender, and the construction of whiteness.

In Negative Originals, Juanita Solano Roa explores race and identity through photographic practices in late nineteenth-century MedellÍn, Colombia. Focusing on the photographic studios of FotografÍa RodrÍguez and BenjamÍn de la Calle, Solano Roa examines the visual construction and dissemination of racial ideologies and the linkage of race to progress. She studies both positive and negative prints to highlight the juxtaposition of traditional portraiture, which reinforced prevailing racial ideologies, and subversive depictions of often excluded individuals such as cross-dressers, peasants, the poor, and Afro-Colombians. In redefining photography’s role, Solano Roa shifts the critic’s eye from traditional positive prints to negatives, exposing the form’s material, symbolic, and spatial significance. In doing so, she simultaneously uncovers new perspectives on the medium and challenges hegemonic histories. Engaging one of Latin America’s most important photographic archives, Solano Roa addresses urgent gaps in the history of Colombian and Latin American photography, particularly at the intersection of race, gender, and the construction of whiteness.

In Negative Originals, Juanita Solano Roa explores race and identity through photographic practices in late nineteenth-century Medellin, Colombia. Focusing on the photographic studios of Fotografia Rodriguez and Benjamin de la Calle, Solano Roa examines the visual construction and dissemination of racial ideologies and the linkage of race to progress. She studies both positive and negative prints to highlight the juxtaposition of traditional portraiture, which reinforced prevailing racial ideologies, and subversive depictions of often excluded individuals such as cross-dressers, peasants, the poor, and Afro-Colombians. In redefining photography's role, Solano Roa shifts the critic's eye from traditional positive prints to negatives, exposing the form's material, symbolic, and spatial significance. In doing so, she simultaneously uncovers new perspectives on the medium and challenges hegemonic histories. Engaging one of Latin America's most important photographic archives, Solano Roa addresses urgent gaps in the history of Colombian and Latin American photography, particularly at the intersection of race, gender, and the construction of whiteness.

Through a diverse collection of essays on the history of art of the Americas, this book explores the cultural, political, and environmental legacy of bananas from viceregal painting and nineteenth century photography to contemporary Latinx and Caribbean Art.Through sixteen original essays by leading art historians, this anthology traces the banana's remarkable journey from colonial still lifes to contemporary installations. The collection examines how artists have deployed this tropical fruit to challenge imperial narratives, visualize labor struggles, and reclaim cultural identities. Expanding on the award winning digital humanities project Banana Craze, this volume presents a comprehensive analysis of banana imagery across diverse media-religious murals, archival photographs, avant garde paintings, and performance art. Each chapter illuminates how artists from Latin America, the Caribbean, and their diasporas have transformed this ubiquitous commodity into a complex visual metaphor that speaks to histories of exploitation, ecological devastation, and artistic resistance.This book will appeal to scholars of art history, visual culture, Latin American and Caribbean studies, postcolonial theory, and environmental humanities.Chapter 1 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

Through a diverse collection of essays on the history of art of the Americas, this book explores the cultural, political, and environmental legacy of bananas from viceregal painting and nineteenth century photography to contemporary Latinx and Caribbean Art.Through sixteen original essays by leading art historians, this anthology traces the banana's remarkable journey from colonial still lifes to contemporary installations. The collection examines how artists have deployed this tropical fruit to challenge imperial narratives, visualize labor struggles, and reclaim cultural identities. Expanding on the award winning digital humanities project Banana Craze, this volume presents a comprehensive analysis of banana imagery across diverse media-religious murals, archival photographs, avant garde paintings, and performance art. Each chapter illuminates how artists from Latin America, the Caribbean, and their diasporas have transformed this ubiquitous commodity into a complex visual metaphor that speaks to histories of exploitation, ecological devastation, and artistic resistance.This book will appeal to scholars of art history, visual culture, Latin American and Caribbean studies, postcolonial theory, and environmental humanities.Chapter 1 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

Through a diverse collection of essays on the history of art of the Americas, this book explores the cultural, political, and environmental legacy of bananas from viceregal painting and nineteenth‑century photography to contemporary Latinx and Caribbean Art.Through sixteen original essays by leading art historians, this anthology traces the banana’s remarkable journey from colonial still lifes to contemporary installations. The collection examines how artists have deployed this tropical fruit to challenge imperial narratives, visualize labor struggles, and reclaim cultural identities. Expanding on the award‑winning digital humanities project Banana Craze, this volume presents a comprehensive analysis of banana imagery across diverse media—religious murals, archival photographs, avant‑garde paintings, and performance art. Each chapter illuminates how artists from Latin America, the Caribbean, and their diasporas have transformed this ubiquitous commodity into a complex visual metaphor that speaks to histories of exploitation, ecological devastation, and artistic resistance.This book will appeal to scholars of art history, visual culture, Latin American and Caribbean studies, postcolonial theory, and environmental humanities.Chapter 1 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

In Negative Originals, Juanita Solano Roa explores race and identity through photographic practices in late nineteenth-century MedellÍn, Colombia. Focusing on the photographic studios of FotografÍa RodrÍguez and BenjamÍn de la Calle, Solano Roa examines the visual construction and dissemination of racial ideologies and the linkage of race to progress. She studies both positive and negative prints to highlight the juxtaposition of traditional portraiture, which reinforced prevailing racial ideologies, and subversive depictions of often excluded individuals such as cross-dressers, peasants, the poor, and Afro-Colombians. In redefining photography’s role, Solano Roa shifts the critic’s eye from traditional positive prints to negatives, exposing the form’s material, symbolic, and spatial significance. In doing so, she simultaneously uncovers new perspectives on the medium and challenges hegemonic histories. Engaging one of Latin America’s most important photographic archives, Solano Roa addresses urgent gaps in the history of Colombian and Latin American photography, particularly at the intersection of race, gender, and the construction of whiteness.

In Negative Originals, Juanita Solano Roa explores race and identity through photographic practices in late nineteenth-century MedellÍn, Colombia. Focusing on the photographic studios of FotografÍa RodrÍguez and BenjamÍn de la Calle, Solano Roa examines the visual construction and dissemination of racial ideologies and the linkage of race to progress. She studies both positive and negative prints to highlight the juxtaposition of traditional portraiture, which reinforced prevailing racial ideologies, and subversive depictions of often excluded individuals such as cross-dressers, peasants, the poor, and Afro-Colombians. In redefining photography’s role, Solano Roa shifts the critic’s eye from traditional positive prints to negatives, exposing the form’s material, symbolic, and spatial significance. In doing so, she simultaneously uncovers new perspectives on the medium and challenges hegemonic histories. Engaging one of Latin America’s most important photographic archives, Solano Roa addresses urgent gaps in the history of Colombian and Latin American photography, particularly at the intersection of race, gender, and the construction of whiteness.

In Negative Originals, Juanita Solano Roa explores race and identity through photographic practices in late nineteenth-century Medellin, Colombia. Focusing on the photographic studios of Fotografia Rodriguez and Benjamin de la Calle, Solano Roa examines the visual construction and dissemination of racial ideologies and the linkage of race to progress. She studies both positive and negative prints to highlight the juxtaposition of traditional portraiture, which reinforced prevailing racial ideologies, and subversive depictions of often excluded individuals such as cross-dressers, peasants, the poor, and Afro-Colombians. In redefining photography's role, Solano Roa shifts the critic's eye from traditional positive prints to negatives, exposing the form's material, symbolic, and spatial significance. In doing so, she simultaneously uncovers new perspectives on the medium and challenges hegemonic histories. Engaging one of Latin America's most important photographic archives, Solano Roa addresses urgent gaps in the history of Colombian and Latin American photography, particularly at the intersection of race, gender, and the construction of whiteness.