Week 5- La Virgen de Guadalupe

    

Art piece of Le Virgen de Guadalupe with the flag of Mexico hanging underneath at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, located in Mexico City

     On first seeing La Virgen de Guadalupe I thought it was the depiction of the Virgin Mary. I was only familiar with the Virgin Mary and this was my first time learning of the Virgin Guadalupe. During lecture, we discussed the two religious characters are often conflated and so I’m assuming that I have, many times in the past, thought I was looking at the Virgin Mary when in reality she was the Virgin Guadalupe. The difference between the two is that the Virgin Guadalupe has special and direct relations to Mexico. To my understanding, the Virgin Guadalupe and the Virgin Mary are the same, yet different beings. The Virgin Guadalupe is the Virgin Mary who came to an indigenous Mexican man in Mexico city and spoke to him in his native language of Nahuatl. Because of this history, the Virgin is very prevalent in Mexican and Latin cultures and therefore Chicanx and Latinx art. I was first introduced to the Virgen de Guadalupe through the discussion of Yolanda M. Lopez’s art. Lopez has featured The Virgin Guadalupe multiple times in multiple art works, such as the Virgen de Guadalupe Series, Walking Guadalupe, and Nuestra Madre for example. 

    Because I am semi-aware of religion, I am aware of the differences in religious interpretations and characters when the religion becomes practiced by new peoples in new regions. In North America, the Virgin Mary has transformed into the Virgin Guadalupe and they represent the same ideas of motherhood but with Guadalupe she is also a symbol highly related to Mexico. Because she is important religiously and even nationally, she carries a lot of importance to people in different ways. Chicana artist, Ester Hernandez, has stated that she does not relate to it religiously but culturally because of the Virgins presence in Mexican culture. Due to the outrage and the push back from some of Yolanda Lopez’s work, which can sexualize the image and free the Virgin from her constrained female gender roles, it can be seen as being very important to many people in a religious matter as well. I am glad that I am now aware of the Virgin Guadalupe and her importance within the Chicanx and Latinx communities. Whether you are religious or not, I believe it’s important to be able to recognize important religious figures of others so as to be culturally aware. I feel sad at the thought that I have gone so long in my life mistaking these figures because I was missing crucial information when looking at artwork or any other instances where the virgin Guadalupe was shown instead of the Virgin Mary.