The exhibition preview for ¡Printing the Revolution! The Rise and Impact of Chicano Graphics, 1965 to Now presents a conversation with artists Juan Fuentes, Ester Hernandez, and Zeke Peña about their usage of artistic expression as a catalyst for social justice change. When Claudia Zapata, the curator of the exhibition, introduced San Francisco based artist Ester Hernandez, I knew I wanted to focus my writing on her this week because I examined many of her powerful depictions of Chicana and Latina women within the readings. When asked what lead her to focus her works on Chicana feminism and queer identities, Hernandez replies that the words of the women that raised her “gave form and meaning to my[her] life as an artist”. During the United Farm Worker’s historical march to Sacramento in 1966, Hernandez watched El Teatro Campesino use music and theater as tools for social change, and was left inspired by their innovation and creativity.
It’s extremely impactful that female artists, especially Ester Hernandez, took it upon themselves to create visual art that change the narrative of Chicanx/Latinx women so that individuals like myself, a first-generation Latina living in Los Angeles, can cultivate our own identities without feeling restricted. She adds that, along with other artists, they “created space within the Movimiento to visually proclaim our[their] right to love whoever we[they] want” and this idea is embodied in a screen print created by Hernandez in 1988 titled La ofrenda. La ofrenda is my favorite work thus far in this course because it presents the traditional symbol of the Virgin de Guadalupe tattooed on a contemporary Chicana women and demonstrates that homosexual relationships are just as blessed as heterosexual relationships are. Ultimately, this exhibition panel allowed me to meet a few of the artists featured in ¡Printing the Revolution! The Rise and Impact of Chicano Graphics, 1965 to Now and learn more about their individual aspirations as Chicanx/Latinx artists.
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