¡Estas Como Mango! is an exhibition of contemporary art and public practice by the Los Angeles-based artist collective Fallen Fruit (David Burns and Austin Young). ¡Estas Como Mango! is their first solo project in Mexico.The exhibition is presented as a series of projects that together form a critical body of contemporary artworks that explore the relationship of local culture and tourist culture to the geographical area of Puerto Vallarta. ¡Estas Como Mango! is focused upon two aspects of Puerto Vallarta history: first is the notion of communal land and the privatization and commercialization of these communal lands; second is these ideas of use of land in relation to tourist culture.¡Estas Como Mango! is a collection of site-specific art works created during a residency with OPC, including a Puerto Vallarta-themed fruit wall paper that is the background of the gallery exhibition; a limited-edition magazine with artworks made by local Puerto Vallarta community members; and the planting of 19 trees around OIas Altas creating an Urban Fruit Trail. Additional works of art explore aesthetics that are specific to Puerto Vallarta and are relational to the themes common within this exhibition.The works of art that Fallen Fruit creates respond to people and place and use local fruit as a connector. In the case of Puerto Vallarta, Fallen Fruit discovered that the mango is paramount to local culture. Mangos were imported to this tropical beach town and form part of its foundation in terms of urban planning, infrastructure, and culture.
OPC and Fallen Fruit would like to thank the Barlow Family for the generous use of the building; we would also like to thank William Hobi, Catherine Oppio, Mexlend, and the many supporters of the Kickstarer campaign who made the ¡Estas como mango! exhibition possible. We would also like to acknowledge Bob Price and the Vallarta Botanical Gardens for the generous donation of the fruit trees.