Gonzalo Fuenmayor creates large-scale, hyperrealistic charcoal drawings that critically explore the nexus of national identity, class, and the stereotypes and preconceptions that adhere to Latin America and the Caribbean within a globalized, consumption-driven media culture. Fuenmayor’s technique is subtractive as much as it is additive: he begins by covering the paper with a thick layer of charcoal and then uses erasers to “carve” the image out of the jet black surface. In Tropicalypse, the artist depicts a set of palm trees consumed by fire. The palm trees function as symbols for a generic tropical setting. Ablaze, they suggest a region in crisis. Whether this crisis is social or ecological in nature is left open-ended. The image suggests the regularity with which catastrophic events—from the recent fires in the Amazon rainforest to the political turmoil in Venezuela, Bolivia, and other countries—have dominated media representations of Latin America.