Week 4- ¡Printing the Revolution! Exhibition Preview

                                          
                                           ¡Printing the Revolution! Exhibition Preview

    Printing the Revolution Exhibition preview, which was held on January 21, was an introduction of the Smithsonian Art Museum’s new exhibition, Printing the Revolution. This exhibit showcases art produced within the Chicanx art movement and through this exhibit the Smithsonian wishes to showcase the different viewpoints in American art and provides a different look about what American art is believed to be. This exhibit is a hope to include more diversity to the museum and to spread awareness of Chicanx and Latinx artists. 

    During the presentation, the rise and the impact of the Chicano graphic movement was described and the history of activism that is embedded within its history. The show is segmented into different themes that is organized by different generations of the art movement and multiple artists are included within the show. They explained how art was used within El Movimiento and explained common themes and stories that are told through the artwork.  Ultimately, their goal for this exhibit was to track and showcase the impact of Mexican graphics, who have been historically left out of the history of US printmaking, on the world.

   Juan Fuentes, Ester Hernandez, and Zeke Peña are three Chicanx and Latinx artists whose works are featured in the exhibition, who were present at the exhibit preview and were asked questions and gave background histories on their lives and how and why they came to be involved within the Chicanx art movement. All three had very different experiences but the one thing they all shared was the goal of activism and the goal of making the world a better place for their communities. They chose to take part within the upliftment of their communities and the minorities of the world through their art. Fuentes and Hernandez were a part of the traditional school, who use primarily traditional hands-on mediums like painting and screen printing, while Peña is a part of the new school, who utilizes new digital technologies and online platforms for the creation and dissemination of their work.  Despite their being generational differences between artists within the movement they all agreed that change was good and expressed joy at the fact that the movement is still going on and that the younger generations are taking up the mantle, having conversations, pushing their communities and the world to do better, while still honoring the history and the work that came before.