Ricardo Cases, xe!, 2016

The first issue of the fanzine, xe!, aunched by Ricardo Cases. Ricardo continues to explore his land, in the wake of El poder de las oranjas (Mack, 2014), with the particular idiosyncrasy of the Levantine landscape and its traditions and festivals. Here we see the relationship between the dry land and the training of the horse by man. The earth, in the shape of a palm, truncated and dying, poor naked skeleton, almost a cross, only a log. The palm bears witness to the struggle between horse and man, in fragmentary close-ups, some upside down. It’s full of movement and a lot of color, an important element, as always in Ricardo’s photography. There is a mixture of baroque in the dance of man and horse, primitive baroque, we could say, since the dance becomes a fight, measuring strength, like a gladiator fight. Red, brown, blue and gray, among the dusty earth. Fur mixes with sweat, as dirt sticks to cart wheels. In a harsh and merciless light, the tradition is masculine and physical, pure tension, strength and muscle, in a communion between man and horse. To the detriment of nature, which here could well represent an absent femininity.