Lopez, Josue (Week 8)

 

I enjoyed Jaqueline Torres’ presentation on Chicanx artist Graciela Carrillo. The three works Jaqueline chose to present, worked well together to show Graciela Carrillo’s visual style and her influences. Jaqueline says that Carrillo’s art seeks to highlight the female identity and contest the sexist perspectives found in the Chicano Movement, the community, and in art. Carrillo’s art reenvisions gender dynamics by focusing on the importance of community and the collective to address inequality and demand social justice. The iconography of community solidarity is present in Carrillo’s work through her exploration of indigeneity, land, religion, and identity. Carrillo’s use of Latino cultural touchstones like maize, explore her vision of Latinidad, indigeneity, and the shared lived realities of Latinos in the United States and Latin America. According to Jaqueline, Carillo’s emphasis on the community can be seen through her work with the Mission District’s collective Las Mujeres Muralistas, whose goal is to bring the art world closer to underrepresented communities. Las Mujeres Muralistas seeks to advance community activism through their social and political art. I enjoyed Jaqueline’s presentation, and I learned a lot about Graciela Carrillo’s work.