Articles on Chicano Art
A collection of articles written by Chicano artists and academics.
The articles provide an overview of the history and theory of Chicano/a art from the 1960’s to the present, emphasizing the debates and vocabularies that have played key roles in its conceptualization.
-Chicano and Chicana Art: A Critical Anthology Intro
Collection inspired by Chicano and Chicana Art: A Critical Anthology, by Jennifer A. González, C. Ondine Chavoya, Chon Noriega, Terezita Romo.
Title: A critical perspective on the state of Chicano Art
Year: 1980
Authors: Malaquias Montoya and Lezlie Salkowitz-Monoya
Source: International Center For The Arts Of The Americas At The Museum Of Fine Arts, Houston
Reference: Malaquias Montoya and Lezlie Salkowitz-Monoya. "A critical perspective on the state of Chicano Art." Metamórfosis (Seattle, Washington, United States), 3, 1 (1980): 6-7
Synopsis (Snippet from the ICAA Website):
This manifesto written by Chicano artist Malaquías Montoya and his wife, Lezlie Salkowitz-Montoya, derides the developing trend of Chicano artists moving away from a community focus to individual artistic pursuits. According to the Montoyas, the United States capitalist system of oppression requires Chicano artists to produce an art of protest. They caution against the emerging trend of exhibiting and selling art within a mainstream art market that is part of a political and economic system that continues to oppress Third World communities.
Title: Response, Another Opinion on the State of Chicano Art
Authors: Shifra M. Goldman
Year: 1981
Source: International Center For The Arts Of The Americas At The Museum Of Fine Arts, Houston
Reference: Goldman, Shifra M. "Response : another opinion on the state of Chicano art." Metamorfosis: Northwest Chicano Magazine of Literature Art and Culture ([Seattle, Wash.]) 4, no.1 (1980/1981): 2-7
Synopsis (Snippet from the ICAA Website):
Defining art as a combination of technology, formal expression, and ideology, this essay by art historian Shifra M. Goldman addresses the relationship of each element to Chicano art practices, ultimately proposing that resistance from dominant culture constitutes a more tenable and practical position than separatism. On the level of formal concerns, Goldman defends the ability of Chicano artists to retain an oppositional perspective while experimenting with a range of styles and techniques, including those associated with mainstream art movements.
Title: The new Chicano movement
Authors: Josh Kun
Year: 2005
Source: Los Angeles Times Magazine
Reference: Kun, John "The new Chicano movement" Los Angeles Times Magazine ([Los Angeles, Cali.]), (2005)
Excerpt (Link to Los Angeles Times Article)
“My work is about L.A., a place that is constantly changing,” De la Loza says. “The earlier generation, their essential question was defining the Chicano aspect of their work. I don’t think I need to do that all the time. It’s more about my interaction with this place.”
This last point echoes the loudest among these artists: They may be Chicanos, but more important, they are Chicanos in Los Angeles, and they want more than anything to make art in dialogue with their city--with traffic and freeways, globalization and immigration, police brutality and, yes, even Richard Ramirez.
Title: Inventing tradition, negotiating modernism : Chicano/a art and the Pre-Columbian past
Authors: Victor Zamudio Taylor
Year: 2001
Source: Zamudio-Taylor, Victor. "Inventing tradition, negotiating modernism : Chicano/a art and the Pre-Columbian past." In The road to Aztlan: art from a mythic homeland, 342-357. Exh. cat. Los Angeles, CA : Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2001
Synopsis (Snippet from the ICAA Website):
In this essay, Victor Zamudio-Taylor explores the valorization of Mexico’s pre-Columbian roots as a key element in the development of cultural identity within the Chicano movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Inspired by the ideology of mexicanidad—which highlighted the role of indigenous cultures in the making of the Mexican nation—the Chicano movement utilized pre-Columbian heritage for the purpose of constructing a sense of identity and place.