Banuet, Haziel (Week Ten)

Throughout the period of this course I have learned so much about Chicana/x artist and many artist that are local artist whose work has been present in surrounding communities that I have not been aware of. I have also enjoyed this Wikipedia article because I have learned more about art that is significant in the Chicanx community. For my article I wrote on Claudia E Zapata and the work they have created. I initially have never heard of Claudia, but through the course of this class I have come to love their work.

In respect for the students who presented last week, I have included one artist who I enjoyed learning about.

One of my favorite artist from this last week presentations was Emilia Cruz. Emilia Cruz is painter a muralist from San Diego. She was born in 1993 and is the daughter of immigrants, making her first generation. Cruz began her artist journey at a young age and had the support of her aunt growing up. Her aunt was the first to encourage her to pursue art as a career, and with the help of her aunt, she was able to convince her parents on her desired career path.

Emilia Cruz is well-known for her commission Netflix artwork. Two of her pieces are feature and/or created in the Netflix shows Gentle-fied (2020) and Selena: the Series (2020).

In this presentation two art pieces stood out to me. The first piece I am unsure of the title but it depicts two wrestlers kissing. This is one of the pieces commissioned by Netflix for their series Gentle-fied (2020).  The reason this piece stands out to be is because it takes wrestlers out of a box of being seen as maybe emotionless and tough all the time. I also believe this piece criticizes the hispanic community’s idea of Machismo.

The second piece that also spoke to me was titled "Am I Too Dark." In this piece Cruz had her younger sister pose with a few barbies. According to Cruz, this piece criticizes the beauty standards our society has on women and judges how we are told at a young age what we are supposed to look like. I loved this piece the most because Cruz was not afraid to speak on these issues and talk about how this effects younger girls.

Banuet, Haziel (Week Nine)

One memorable artist from last week that I was introduced for the first time was Martha Ramirez-Oropeza. Martha is known as a muralist and painter, but she is also a theater performer, professor and lecturer with a research emphasis Nahuatl history and philosophy.

Many of Martha's art pieces reflect her own philosophy and beliefs. Within most of her pieces we see an emphasis of Mexican/Chicano history and often incorporates spiritual and cultural figures. Martha began drawing at a young age and used it as a way to escape her own reality. As she grew older, she choose to advance her talents in the art world, while also working in research.

The piece feature bellow is one of the piece that stood out the most for me. This mural was painted at the University of Oregon for Hispanic Heritage Month and embodies a collision of significant events and cultural icons in the Latino/x community. In the piece we see a mix of Chicano/x images such as the Chicano Movement, the United Farm Workers, and Azlan representation. In a away this piece was intended to persevere the history of Azlan and the history of Chicano/x in American.

Banuet, Haziel (Week Eight)

Last week we were able to listen in on a few presentations and one of the artists that stood out for me was Ruby Chacon. She is known as a muralist, but she also fluctuates between art mediums such as prints and paintings. Chacon was born and raised in Utah and is a first generation artist and daughter of immigrants. Growing up her family was not super traditional, in fact her family did not incorporate much of their Mexican culture growing up. They even moved to a more rural area in Utah to avoid being associated with the community. Because she grew up in a non-traditional family, Chacon questioned her identity a lot from a young age. Later as she began to make a name for herself through her art, questions about her identity always came up. Now Chacon identifies as a Utana (Utahan and Chicana). 

Chacon began creating art at a young age, but she got more serious after tragedy struck her family. Her art brought light to her family and the community. Much of Chacon’s art resists what Utahan art really is because it depicts what real Utahan communities look like and not just landscapes. Most of her artwork is also displayed in public spaces because she wants to give access to everyone. For example, one of her public murals (features above) was funded by the Department of Education. The mural depicts life in Utah while also representing the hispanic community that is present in Utah.

Banuet, Haziel (Week Seven)

In the piece “Chicanx Graphics in the Digital Age” written by Claudia Zapata, we read how the digital revolution of the 1980s impacted Chicanx artists and how the art form became an accessible tool for more artists. This piece highlights the few out of many artists who took it upon themselves to understand this new medium and use it as a form of dialogue. The main argument that older generations of artists feared with the entrance of digital art in the scene was that it would decrease the value and purpose of art. But Zapata’s main argument in this piece is that the emergence of digital art did not erase the traditional art forms (especially those in the Chicanx community, rather it opened new doors of advocacy. Digital art is an accessible art form that can reach new audiences, especially when protesting injustice.

Zapata also writes about how digital art impacted and influenced the community of Chicanx artists and the definitions Chicanx artists have expanded on because of the art medium. We learn that Barbara Carrasco was one of the first artists to incorporate digital media in her work in the 1980s. Her piece was a Spectacolor lightboard that was part of the United Farm Worker (UFW) grape boycott. Her piece serves as an example of how artists began to use digital art to publicize political issues to a broader audience. There were many more artists that Zapata wrote about in this piece, but I thought it was very interesting how Carrasco created a simple illustration to speak on such an important issue that had been going on in the Chicanx community. 

Banuet, Haziel (Week Six)

Xandra Ibarra is an artist whom I’ve never heard of or seen her work. After doing some research and reviewing her websites, I found myself down a rabbit whole or her work. Her performances and videos were very interesting to watch, but one work that was most memorable and left me wanting to know if my interpretation was right was her short film “La Corrida” (2012 and 2018). In the 2012 video, you see Ibarra running across what it seems to be a desert and not stopping. We are given various angles of her running and do not stop throughout the whole video. The 2018 version of “La Corrida” is the same video, but over another video of the US-Mexico border. In this version we see the border portal monitoring cars that are passing and inspecting vehicles. The message I believe Ibarra is trying to send to her audience is the struggles that the undocumented migrants who cross the border on foot face under the raging heat of the desert. The second video criticizes the border portal and how hard-headed they could be towards these migrants. Through Ibarra’s artwork, she is very much transparent and strives to be a voice for the voiceless. I admire her work very much and her ability to open herself up to her audience and the rest of the public.

I think after watching and looking through Ibarra work, one question I have is was there ever a time when a piece and/or performance ever went wrong and didn’t go as planned?

Banuet, Haziel (Article Draft for Claudia E Zapata)

 Claudia E Zapata is a Queer Chicanx artist known as the co-founder of Puro Chingón Collective, which has developed BIPOC zines and designer toys.

Biography

Caudia E Zapata is a Texan based artist known for their DIY art-making toy designs and zines. A lot of their artwork has been created through and for the Puro Chingón Collective that they co-founder in 2012 with a few of their friends. Zapata's artwork in and outside of the collective have touched on topics that involve the LGBTQ+ community and the Chicanx community. The topics of otherness and queerness are important to Zapata and is well interpreted in their artwork, published articles and activism. Zapata is currently a doctoral candidate at Southern Methodist University and is a Curatorial Assistant of Latinx Art at the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) in Washington, D.C. They have been actively associated with SAAM since 2018. 

 

• Research interests: Latinx and Chicanx art, digital art and humanities, and curatorial methodologies of identity based exhibitions.

• Has curated over 30 exhibitions in Mexic-Arte Museum and other museums.

Art & Exhibitions

• Puro Chingón Collective (2012-present) is a project in which Zapata co-founded along with Claudia Aparicio-Gamundi and James Huizar.

• The Let's Get Weird (2017) Puro Chingón Collective exhibition was a part of ChingoZine 7 release party that took place in Austin, Texas.

• Designer toys of the Puro Chingón Collective were featured in the 2019 Expresiones en Esculturas exhibition.

• “El Zine: Contemporary Underground Archives” was featured in the Latinx Project in 2019 New York, NY.

References

1. Ramírez, Sara A., et al. El Mundo Zurdo 7 : Selected Works from the 2018 Meeting of the Society for the Study of Gloria Anzaldúa. Aunt Lute Books, 2019.

2. Ramos, E. Carmen, et al. ¡Printing the Revolution!: The Rise and Impact of Chicano Graphics, 1965 to Now. Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2020.

3. National Portrait Gallery, director. ¡Printing the Revolution! In Conversation with E. Carmen Ramos and Claudia Zapata. YouTube, YouTube, 15 July 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nx3ip9k1VJQ&list=PLoiUVJmnCbmBt5lUJvJdT6syGdthFbbN8&index=4. Accessed 19 Oct. 2021.

4. “Claudia Zapata.” Smithsonian American Art Museum, Smithsonian Institution, https://americanart.si.edu/person/claudia-zapata.

5. “Expresiones En Esculturas, Expressions in Sculptures.” Mexic-Arte Museum, 22 Mar. 2021, https://mexic-artemuseum.org/event/expresiones-en-esculturas-expressions-in-sculptures/.

Further Reading

• “Let’s Get Weird: El Mundo Zurdo As A Toy Design” in El Mundo Zurdo 7: Selected Works from the 2018 Meeting of the Society for the Study of Gloria Anzaldúa.

• “Chicanx Graphics in the Digital Age” in ¡Printing the Revolution!: The Rise and Impact of Chicano Graphics, 1965 to Now

• “Chicanx Queer Visions: Fighting for Change and Exploring Identity” in smithsonianmag.com

External links

• Artist Website: https://www.claudiaelisazapata.com/ 

• Puro Chingón Collective Website: https://www.purochingoncollective.com/ 

• Smithsonian American Art Museum Website: https://americanart.si.edu/person/claudia-zapata 

Banuet, Haziel (Week Five)

 As I began to read the Carmen Lomas Garza book, I think one thing I noticed about a lot of her artworks were the many depictions of community and family. She creates images of real events that she remembers experiencing such as Cama para Sueños (1985), Cakewalk (1987), or Curandera II (1979). But one image that I personally really liked was Barbacoa para Cumpleaños (1993). This piece kind of wrapped up my childhood. When I was younger everyone’s birthday would be celebrated in the backyard of my aunt’s house and there we would have a barbeque. Yes Garza has created pieces that depict messages of spirituality and social issues, but the elements presented in Barbacoa para Cumpleaños were like a memory. It is through this piece we understand how much Garza values community and family, even if it is depicted through a simple image of a bbq. Another element that this piece holds that can also be seen in many of her other works are the fragments of her own cultural identity. In this piece we see the piñata being hit and the decor hung on the back of the house which can also be interpreted as elements in Mexican celebrations. I think to Garza it is important to her to display her cultural identity through her art because it is not something you usually see in mainstream western art. Overall, this piece was something a little bit more domestic and wholesome from many of her other works.

Banuet, Haziel (Week Four)

Before reading this week's readings, I had never heard of the word rasquachismo, but I have heard of the word domesticana a couple times. Unfortunately I never knew what people meant when they refer to domesticana. To be honest when I first heard the word I had thought it was referring to domestic housework in the home done by women. But according to our readings in Chicana and Chicana Art, rasquachismo and domesticana in a sense define one another and  can be described as a shared sensibility. It is a collective ideology in the Chicano/x community that can be defined as an attitude or taste (p.81). It is a lived experience by those in the community and can be understood as a bicultural sensibility. Domesticana on the other hand represents the feminine elements that connect to the cultural memorabilia within the community and is often depicted in Chicana/x art.

Growing up I never identified as Chicana only because for me that was an identity someone grows up in and the word had never existed in my vocabulary until I got to college. Even today it feels odd to say I am a Chicana because by definition I guess I technically am. But as I grew up, there was this realization that there are many first generation Mexican-Americans that feel the same way I do. And the first time I realized this was when I was hanging out with my cousins. All of us are first generation kids and grew up around the same community. But one thing that I remember that became a shared memory between us was how for a long time we had this ongoing joke that “If you don’t have an art piece of the lady and the flowers in your house, then you aren't Mexican enough.” And the only reason we said this was because in each one of our houses there was the same replica of Diego Rivera’s art piece The Flower Vendor. I guess between me and my cousins that is one experience we all shared as first generation kids in a Mexican household.

Banuet, Haziel (Abstracts for Claudia E Zapata)

Source Abstracts:

“El Mundo Zurdo as a Designer Toy” by Claudia E Zapata in El Mundo Zurdo 7

In a collection of essays featured in El Mundo Zurdo 7, Claudia E Zapata writes a piece that introduces their collection called Puro Chingón Collective that was developed and designed in Texas by Zapata in 2012. The project reflects Latinx culture through toy designs, zines, murals, and more. Many of their projects are representations of one's otherness and queerness. This piece specifically touches on the art design of the Mundo Zurdo toy design featured in their 2017 “Let’s Get Weird” Puro Chingón Collective. Zapata writes on their creative process for the toy design and how it came to be as a significant collective feature. The purpose of this collective is to initially create art that is affordable for the general public.

“Chicanx Queer Visions: Fighting for Change and Exploring Identity” by Claudia E Zapata

In this article, artist and doctoral candidate Claudia E Zapata highlights a few queer Chicanx artist who are featured in the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s exhibition ¡Printing the Revolution! art catalogue. The article begins with a brief introduction of the history of Stonewall Uprisings and the significance to the LQBTQ+ community. Zapata continues as they highlight the art pieces of Oree Originol, UndocuQueer artist Julio Salgado, and Ester Hernandez. For each artist, Zapata emphasizes the critical significance of each piece and how each artwork is a representation of each artist’s identity. 

Link: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/blogs/smithsonian-american-art-museum/2021/06/17/chicanx-queer-visions/

Banuet, Haziel (Week Three)

 As a Latina and California raised woman, the Virgin of Guadalupe is a figure very familiar to me, yet was not a figure that was present in my parents house rather in my grandma’s house. In my grandma’s house the Virgin was plastered on the walls of her living room, bedroom, and even the bathroom. Growing up I never understood the significance of the Virgin in our culture or what she meant to my grandmother personally.

One significant memory I have of the Virgin was when I went to Guadalajara with my grandma and aunt for the festival to celebrate the Virgin. But at the time I didn’t know it was Virgin that was being honored, I simple though we were going to a festival. Another thing that i didn't know was that the Virgin that was being celebrated was La Virgen de Zapopan. To this day I don't know who she represents... At that age I had no clue who the Virgin was, but due to all the festive voices, I knew she was someone important to the people.

Because I grew up in a Christian household, the Virgin was never in the house of my parents, even though my grandma was a strong believer. I only knew of her, but not about who she was or what she signified in Latin/Hispanic culture. All I knew was the bare minimum, which was she was the mother of Jesus and in the in certain sectors of Catholicism they worshiped her. It wasn’t until I entered into community college when I learned more about who she is and signified. But even then, we learned about her in a more academic perspective, rather than a cultural one. I know that in some Latin and/or Hispanic households she represents fertility, but I am still unsure where this ideology comes from...

Zapata, Claudia Elisa (Week Two)

2. Sanchez, Marta (b 1949)

3. Perez, Irene (Public Art, Painting)

Banuet, Haziel (Week One)

Hello everyone! My name is Haziel Banuet and I am a senior transfer student majoring in History. My preferred pronouns are she/her and go by Haziel (not Hazel). I am a Mexican-American student from San Diego, California; which is also the city I was born and raised in.

One of the reasons I chose to major in History as an undergrad was because it gave me the opportunity to learn about cultures and societies that I was not exposed to in grade school. For example, I currently enjoy studying Japanese history (specifically between the Meiji Period and the Showa Era) because over the last year I was able to take courses focused on Japanese history. One of the courses I really enjoyed was the Japanese Literature and Film class. It helped me learn more about Japan through literary works and films rather than just a textbook. Aside from Japanese history, I also have taken an interest in the History of Gender. Last quarter I took a History/Gender course about the History of Gender in China and was captivated by how gender ideologies had influenced and constructed social norms.

One of the main reasons I am taking this course is because I have yet to take a course dedicated to Chicana/x & Latina/x artists and art. I know very little about the art and artists that come from the culture; even though I am Mexican-American. I hope that through this course I am able to learn more about Chicano/x culture and how gender ideologies influenced artists and art. I am very excited to explore the artists that impacted the movement in the 1960s-1970s and their art pieces that are remembered today.

Hope to meet everyone soon!