RONALD VILL
EL ZORRO Y LA FLOR (The Fox & The Flower)
Creativity finds a way in El Zorro y La Flor, a bountiful new series by Ronald Vill comprised of 72 digital drawings and an accompanying short film.
Wrestling with notions of ideal ways to spend time while in quarantine versus the reality of his everyday activities and anxieties, the series ebbs and flows in tone and style along with Ronald’s emotions as he processes his ever-changing environment in real time. As he shares with us these intimate visual diary entries made during a period of enforced confinement in Havana, he discovers and reveals to us a new facet of his expression.
Ronald is known for creating highly stylized, staged photographs, often featuring intriguing characters in a single frame narrative, but here he sets his camera aside and casts himself as the anti-hero, El Zorro (The Fox). Interacting with the omnipresent COVID-19 virus, seemingly ironically represented by the delicate Sakura flower, El Zorro vainly attempts to elude the virus as it self-propagates and infuses itself throughout his everyday in unexpected and invasive ways.
In Japanese culture Sakura blossoms represent renewal and optimism during winter’s end and the onset of spring. They are an enduring metaphor for human existence, linked to Buddhist ideas around mortality, mindfulness and living in the present moment. For Ronald, the Sakura blossom represents freedom and flourishing and was chosen as a symbol to combat confinement and fear of death. He evokes the deep spiritual traditions associated with the fleeting pink blooms to remind us that life is short and beautiful (just like the cherry blossom that falls from the tree after a few short days) and that we should pay attention to the brilliance in everyday life.
With the hope of spreading art like a virus, but in a healing way, we’re offering high-resolution downloads of all the El Zorro y La Flor images for free or a pay-what-you-wish amount, with all proceeds going to Global Giving's Coronavirus Relief Fund. A full color catalog is available for purchase in our new online shop. Limited edition prints will be sold through the gallery and the online exhibition will run until a vaccine is found.
The artist lives and works in Havana, Cuba.
Listening to Carlos Varela, 2020
El Zorro y La Flor (The Fox & The Flower), 2020
Video
Untitled, 2020
The Mask, 2020
In The Afternoon, 2020
Delirium, 2020
Naked, 2020
The Secret Weapons, 2020
Portrait, 2020
The Necessary Provisions, 2020
Awakening, 2020
We Die In The Air, 2020
I'm The Shy, 2020
Trilce, 2020
Yearning, 2020
Fuck!, 2020
Goodness, 2020
The Door, 2020
Hug The Messenger, 2020
Dawn, 2020
The WInd, 2020
Determination, 2020
Song Of Joy, 2020
The Floor Has Become Soft, 2020
A Chair That Had Been Broken For Twenty-Nine Years, 2020
"It’s a very basic drawing…mimetic…with few lines and hardly any colors…that gives me absolute freedom that I had not found in photography…And it allows me to show in a simple way…Unprejudiced…and quick…What is happening inside me these days."
-Ronald Vill
Before Night Falls, 2020
Bone Scan, 2020
Voice, 2020
I'm My Body And My Body Is Sad, 2020
The Other Virus, 2020
In The Safety Place, 2020
The Fox, 2020
Decisions, 2020
The Calm, 2020
What!, 2020
The Man With The Very Fine Nose, 2020
With Magic All The Evil Will Go Away, 2020
Without Cure, 2020
Too Many Days, 2020
Cleaning, 2020
Inevitable, 2020
The Phone, 2020
The Worst Day, 2020
Danae, 2020
Yatagarasu Came, 2020
I Feel That After the Night, 2020
Everywhere, 2020
Sunday, 2020
Happy Birthday, Mr. Vill (Like A Tattoo), 2020
I Want To Draw A Fox, 2020
Inside, 2020
My Own Breath Is Slightly White, 2020
The Beauty, 2020
The Mystery, 2020
A Wound On The Forehead, 2020
To Hug, 2020
The Only Sure Thing We Have Is A Blank Page, 2020
His Giant Wings Prevent him From Walking, 2020
Manifesto (Spread The Art Like A Virus), 2020
Second of June, 2020
Marat, 2020
Breath, 2020
Even Cats, 2020
El Zorro y La Flor, 2020
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La Recontre (Bonjour, Mr. Vill), 2020
Study For a Geisha With a Bag of Tomatoes, 2020
Shout of Sakura, 2020
Breeding Ravens, 2020
Untitled, 2020
The Dance, 2020
Catharsis, 2020
Without Fear, 2020
Overthinking, 2020
The Floor Has Become Soft (Dark), 2020
Kristen and John, 2020
Olympia, 2020
Are We Going To Join?, 2020