William Alatriste: New Patriots/Old Patriots

January 21 – March 22, 2003
Opening Reception: Monday, January 27
Artist Talk: Monday, January 27, 2003

North Fork Bank
4201 White Plains Road
Bronx, NY 10466 

En Foco Touring Gallery is proud to present color photographs by William Alatriste at the North Fork Bank in the Bronx, from January 21 to March 22, 2003.

William Alatriste’s work examines the different ways people express their patriotism, while using the American flag. This series, New Patriots/Old Patriots, was taken after the fall of the Twin Towers, where the birth of the new patriots began and the old patriots re- surfaced.

He states, “In the days and weeks immediately following 9-11, New York, a city not known for its patriotism had, by virtue of a sudden volcanic eruption of patriotic feeling, conspicuously transformed itself into Middle-America. The flag was everywhere and had undergone a seismic shift in meaning. It had gone from being a ‘static ‘symbol to a ‘status’ symbol. For most of us (and by this I mean people born and raised here) it was simply a matter of reacquainting ourselves with a known quantity. Yet for many others, especially the people in these photographs, the flag was – in an atmosphere that had become increasingly hostile and suspicious of foreigners – literally the last line of defense. Wearing it, selling it, swaddling oneself in it became less a statement of faith than an act of self-preservation and survival.”

Alatriste was born and raised in the Bronx, and began his journey as a photographer in 1999. He received his B.A. with Honors in English Literature from NYU in 1998 and is currently pursuing an M.F.A in Creative Writing. His work has been exhibited at the NYU, Art At C.U.A.N.D.O, and Doctors Without Borders in New York City; and at the Akron Art Museum, Akron, Ohio.