Self-determination

Shifra M. Goldman’s article addresses class, race, and ethnicity in Chicano artwork. Goldman focuses on Chicano art from 1965 to 1980s. The artworks that she discusses tackle issues such as oppression and the ability to choose one’s own destiny. She starts off by discussing race and states that Europeans brought racism with them. She says that once Europeans saw how useful it was, they implemented this institution on people of color. Chicano artists such as Antonio Bernal, Luis Jiménez, Xavier Viramontes, Victor Ochoa, Yreina Cervántez, and Roberto Delgado addressed race within their work at a time when Chicanos were questioning their Indian heritage. Next, Goldman addresses ethnicity and the forming of the political term “Hispanic” that categorized all those of Latin American descent into one group. She states that Anglo-Americans have attacked the politics, economy, and culture of Mexicans and continue to do so through stereotypes. Some Chicano artists such as Yolanda López, René Yáñez, Luis Valdez, and César A. Martínez have created works involving ethnic affirmations in response to Anglo-Americans defamation of Mexican culture. Lastly, Goldman addresses class in Chicano artwork.  Mexicans had at one time owned land but were stripped of their land and pushed into the working class. To glorify their position in society, artists such as Emigdio Vásquez, Andy Zermeño, and David Avalos created artworks that celebrate contributions of the working class Chicanos.

Yolanda López’s works includes race, ethnicity, class and even gender so it’s hard to choose just one image to discuss. However, my favorite of all the images in the book is the one titled Portrait of the Artist as the Virgin of Guadalupe. In López’s Guadalupe series, replaces the popular image of the Virgin of Guadalupe with images of ordinary women who are exemplary of what it is to be a Chicana. This specific image conveys a strong woman of color with the ability to choose what she wants to do with her life and how she wants to do it with no one holding her back.