Chicano Art: Looking Backward (Week 8)

 

    In 1981, at the time of the release of Chicano Art: Looking Backward, Chicano art was still a burgeoning medium; perhaps not in its infancy of recognition among art critics and the market, but rapidly growing and looking forward towards potential paths in mainstream media. Although no "plateau" had been reached in the artistic movement, as noted by the author, exhibitions began to open across Southern California in reflection of the preceding decade and its artistic products. A watershed moment had appeared for the Chicano art community, as their history was examined and future considered. The focus of the essay contemplates this shift in collective goals as a cultural, social, and artistic movement, as well as the retrospective understanding of the movement up until the early 1980's.

    Unlike many artists of other aesthetic movements, Chicano artists are uniquely bound together by a shared culture, region, and history of activism. My initial reaction to the question of the movement's direction (as either a communal service or mainstream profession) was of slight confusion: are not all artists different? Must Chicano/a/x creatives be bound to their heritage, above all else? I see now that this is a peculiar situation, and that while many Chicanx artists follow no designated path, there is a strong central ethos of politicization that is inherent in the community. It is bound to the neighborhood, the people, the struggle for equality, and freedom.

    The exhibition itself has many conceptual contradictions, notably with the demonstration of live "mural" painting on monumental canvases, instead of true building exteriors. While the author criticizes this approach, stating that the separation of these "murals" from the architectural context of Los Angeles "decontextualizes... and violates its function," (439) I believe that the exhibition is intended to simulate its subject matter as a mere performance of public Chicano art. Truly, the art is detached from its place of origin when not on the streets of the urban metropolis, both literally as a transportable medium, and figuratively as a different mode of connecting artist and audience. The painters' conversations with their audience members may be authentic, but the means by which they arrived at that moment were orchestrated, very different from the organic flow of a neighborhood.