Extra Credit: Ester Hernandez

 

    Ome Lopez Platica with Ester Hernandez: Las Guurrrls Del Valle - Chicana Art then and Now, A Queer Perspective discusses Ester’s artisitic career and offers insights into some of her famous art works. Over the years, Ester’s images have become central for Chicanos/as because of her commitment to community art. She also tackles political images, such as pesticides and workers rights. Additionally, she created a lot of images about women. Above all, Hernandez hopes to make the world a better place through her art. One of Hernandez’s famous pieces is The Offering. In this artwork, there is a woman with short, punk hair and a Virgin De La Guadalupe tattoo on her back. During the time this painting was created, women had to be feminine and tattoos were only for men, so this shows a woman stepping into male space. Furthermore, the woman is naked and looks confident, which wasn’t a common portrayal of women in the late 1980’s. Ultimately, this piece was significant for queer women. Additionally, La Virgen de Guadalupe Defendiendo Los Derechos de los Xican@s empowers women by disrupting the narrative of the Virgin. Specifically, the Virgin at this time was seen as motherly, but in this piece she is portrayed as a strong, confident fighter. Ester also created artworks on social justice. In fact, she first came across art being used for social justice during the United Farm Workers movement. One of her most notable pieces on social justice is Sun Mad. Sun Mad is a screenprint, which is a medium Ester loves because it’s cheap and allows for mass production. Since farm workers were advertised as happy people, this piece shows an alternative perspective. Specifically, this radical and critical piece shows death through the use of a skull woman holding a basket of grapes. It also touches on the issue of using the female body to sell commodities. 

The Offering by Ester Hernandez