¡Printing the Revolution! Exhibition Preview Post

 The ¡Printing the Revolution! Exhibition showcases Chicanx graphics from Chicanx artists across the U.S. The exhibited art is made up of a wide range of techniques like lithography, interactive conceptual projects, and installation art. It is thematically organized into few groups. The first group is called "Urgent Images". This group includes artistic activism like Barbara Carrasco's Pesticides originally showcased in New York Times Square and Oree Original's portraits of victims of police brutality and gun violence that are shared online for protesters to use. The second group called New Chicano World showcases a cultural reclamation of indigeneity which showcases works by artists like Ester Hernandez.

• Ester Hernandez, La Ofrenda, from the National Chicano Screenprint Taller, 1988-1989, 1988, screenprint on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Wight Art Gallery, University of California, Los Angeles, 1991.65.3, © 1988, Self-Help Graphics & Art, Inc.

     The following group is Reimagining Global National which visualizes American histories from the perspective of the person of color. It includes artwork that presents figures who have fought against colonialism and cultural figures like la Virgen de Guadalupe. The last group is Public Interventions Digital Innovations which is how the change of graphics on the internet was added to the work of these POC artists. It makes the exhibit multi-generational and one that spans across time. 

    Ester Hernandez is a Chicana artist featured in this exhibit. She was interviewed by the organizers and she said Mujeres gave form to her life. She found self-expression in the arts and how it could act as a tool for social change. She spoke to other Chicana artists like Dolores Huerta and discussed how the mainstream media portrayed Chicanas as people to fear or pity. Hernandez combats this narrative with her artwork as she joined the Chicana feminist movement and was able to publish her work transforming la Virgen de Guadalupe pictured above. She faced controversy and censorship for the first time but was assertive in being proud of her culture. Furthermore, she spoke of the homophobia within and outside of the Chicanx community. Her and other LGBTQ+ work were being censored because it was grappling with sexuality. She still asserted that "We're all the face of the moviemiento." 

    In response to questions, Hernandez spoke about the changes in Chicanx graphics due to technological advances. She acknowledged how social media spread art to new audiences and how at times it could be an overload of information, but it is an additional tool. She called herself "old school and hands on". She also thanked younger artists and organizations that participated in strikes, celebrations of Dia de los Muertos, and creating informational graphics about the pandemic. She expressed that she was unable to do so because of her age, but it made her hopeful for the future.