Aguilar, Angel

My name is Angel Aguilar. My preferred pronouns are He/Him/His. I am a 4th-year Political Science major with a minor in Chicano Studies. I was interested in this course because I love to explore art that is rooted in Chicano culture and Latin American culture, more specifically in Mexico. 

I was born and raised in East Los Angeles and Boyle Heights. Coming from this area, I have had the opportunity to be exposed to many murals and graffiti that has allowed me to better appreciate and seek art that reflects Latino culture. Many of the murals that I grew up around aimed to show the true reality of Latinos living in the United States as well as sending messages of strength. I believe that activism through art is a strong way to get your message across because it can convey emotions that are hard to explain through words. I hope through this class I can be introduced to new art that explores experiences within the Latino/Mexican culture that might not be as prominent. 

In this Week’s Reading, “Printing and Collecting the Revolution” by E Carmen Ramos, I enjoyed the explanation for wall art. Wall art is a medium to “engage a community with little to no access to mainstream news or cultural outlets.” Personally, coming from Boyle Heights I saw many murals that depicted many of the Latino Immigrant perspectives that were not talked about in the mainstream news when I was a child. But growing up I feel as if the murals have lost their effect on the main population because people are not as moved by the messages in the murals. When a mural is created, it is seen as nice art on the wall and nothing more. Since they mention printmaking as the other public medium that had the same effect, I wonder if it is also losing its effects in communities that are majority Latino or if the art is not thought-provoking
enough.