Blog Post Wk- 4. Denver Art Museum Panal

It is always a privilege to be able to be in a space that allow me to learn more about my history and identity, through art. The Denver Art Museum held a panel on January 19th, 2021 to introduce their new exhibit and invited three artists to speak on their art and how it relates to the exhibit. The theme was and I quote “How Mexican Modernism is relevant today?”. They were able to discuss this and break it down into 3 main themes, which were; Appropriation, reclamation as tools of empowerment public arts as activism and layered identities. The three artists were Pablo Helguera Damion Ortega and Alma Lopez. The two artists and their art that spoke to me the most were from artist Pablo Helguera and Alma Lopez, which is who I will focus on. 

Pablo Helguera's work was inspired by muralist and performative art. His art piece that focuses on “dying languages” was very touching for me. He highlighted that there are at least 50 spoken languages in Mexico, and he traveled around Mexico to capture languages that were going extinct. Most languages that came from the original peoples, indigenous people of Mexico. He interviews the people and records their voices on an old also very historic and dated tool, the phonograph. The result is these wax figures that have captured and recorded their voices, in their native language. This visual representation that captures people’s identity and language that with time is being erased. You can visually see the wax figures, almost as tombs or something similar in which one day some of those will be completely extinct. I made a connection to old graveyards, where you see tombs that represent a person who once lived and is now ‘extinct’. It was very moving at sad at the same time to know these languages are on the verge of ‘dying’ as well. A piece of one’s history is being captured and will be held in a resting place and captured in these wax figures. 

Alma Lopez work is and discussion was one that helped me get in tuned with my ‘Chicanima’ and feminism that is outside of the larger frame of feminism, that is intersectional and centered in my Indegeneity. She has been able to recreate art that include prehistorical stories and include her own identity. I grew up Catholic and when I began to question institutional religion, I struggled a lot with my role as a female within the church and in life but wanting to break free of that. I went to catholic school and my family was very traditional catholic. In the catholic church we are taught that women are the descendants of Eve, and Eve came from man, Adam.  But we know it is biologically impossible, and all human beings come from women. Through my Chicana feminism I learned about the powerful goddesses that were once worshipped by my ancestors. like Coatlicue. Therefore, hearing Alma's work on Coyolxauhqui and her rebellion against her family and she is the symbol for Chicana feminism was touching and also a new piece of information for me that further empowers me.