Andrew Alba is a descendant of Mexican migrant workers and often depicts surreal images of brown bodies in labor. In "Manzana Bandana" and "Retrato Con Fresa," you see two portraits, one of a man and the other of a woman, each with a colored bandana. In the fields, the workers often wear bandanas to protect them from the sun and the chemicals spread over the land. However, in Manzana Bandana, the white bandana is a symbol of the sexual exploitation of farmworker women. Sexual violence against farmworker women has long been a rampant problem in the agricultural industry. In 2010, 80% of farmworker women surveyed in the California Central Valley that they had experienced sexual harassment at work. In 2007, The Bandana Project was created as a public awareness campaign where farmworker community members and advocates decorate white bandanas to honor the women who have taken action to hold their perpetrators and employers accountable for acts of violence. It is a unique art-activism project that serves as a liberation tool for women across the U.S. and Mexico.
2023 28th Anniversary Group Show, Froelick Gallery, Portland, OR 2023 Weighted Home, Froelick Gallery, Portland, OR. 2019 Gas Station Honeydew, Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, Salt Lake City, UT.
Publications
2022 "alba", PROArtes Mexico book, edited by Al Mendoza and Scout Invie.