Crystal Pearl Molinary, “Habana Riviera” (2011) (courtesy Crystal Pearl Molinary)
I reviewed Jillian Hernandez’s stellar book Aesthetics of Excess: The Art and Politics of Black and Latina Embodiment for Hyperallergic.
Author Jillian Hernandez theorizes the intersecting formations of gender, class, and race in relation to the self-presentation of Black and Latina women and girls.
“I think Barbies are kind of what [White] people look like and Bratz are like what Black people look like. So it’s like, we can relate more to Bratz dolls. They have curves and big lips,” says Tashell, a former participant in the outreach program Women on the Rise! at the Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami and an interviewee in Jillian Hernandez’s Aesthetics of Excess: The Art and Politics of Black and Latina Embodiment.
