Linda Vallejo: Brown Belongings Solo exhibition at LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes

I had the opportunity on Sunday, January 12 to visit the Linda Vallejo: Brown belongings Solo exhibition. And I am very happy I was able to attend this event. At the exhibition, there were various pieces of art that were centralized around a theme of brown pride. It was clear that Linda Vallejo's various pieces of art that were on display at the exhibition addresses her ethnic identity within the realm of American pop culture and art. There were all sorts of different types of art that were on display, for example, there were paintings, ceramics, and sculptures. All these various and different styles of art all were centered around idealizing Mexcian-American culture in the United States. These pieces of art were meant to show that being brown is beautiful and living in the United States it can be easy to forget this due to popular culture and mainstream media promoting whiteness as the pinnacle of beauty. There were pieces of art at the exhibition that took popular characters/people in American history and pop culture and painted them brown. For example, there were ceramic pieces of art of Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy, but instead of being painted white like we see them in the television shows, they were painted brown. Also, there were paintings of previous American presidents such as Bill Clinton, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, etc and they were painted brown instead of white. This exhibition and seeing Linda Vallejo's art made me realize that being brown is something that you should cherish and be proud of no matter what American popular culture and media tell you. I am truly grateful I was able to attend this event.