I was compelled to write about Judith Baca's chapter on public art "Whose Monument Where?" in the Chicano and Chicana Art: A Critical Anthology. Judith writes about how public art transformed from the trope of making light of the past and "splendid triumphs" of American history. Baca tells us how public art was used to soothe anxieties around war--painting it without its graphic truth and being bloodless. I think that sort of public artworks as propaganda to contribute to the hegemonic narrative that America as a country can do no wrong. It paints white America as a war hero instead of showing us the true and accurate account of what has happened.
Baca also talks about the destruction of public places. The urban skyscrapers, malls, and corporate offices take over the public. She used street vendors and how they are criminalized, driven off the street, and seen as loitering as an example. Thankfully now street vendors in LA can operate legally. Still, city developers get control over what public art is displayed on their property. A lot of money can go into a mural project, but often times the art displays a false picture of unity and inclusion. It just depicted people of color as a thing of the past using "relics" such as Aztec goddesses, Native peoples eagles, and Nigerian headpieces (305).
As for Chicano murals, Baca says, "Chicano murals have provided the leadership and the form for other communities to assert their presence and articulate their issues" (308). She spoke on the impact of the mural on Olvera Street. I've read a journal that Olvera Street was originally proposed by Christine Sterling who was white and wanted to romanticize LA's Spanish past. It made me shocked to see how the Chicano community was limited to expressing their culture in this space. Often times they were made to wear costumes. It was almost as if they were put on display like Main Street on Disneyland. David Alfaro Siquieros painted "Tropical America" on Olvera Street, but it was criticized and whitewashed because it was seen as "communist". It's being restored, but it's frustrating to see Latino public art silenced. The murals work to influence the community itself and contribute to the youth using graffiti to express as "resisting the privatized public space" (308). I think it's important to have this public expression, but developers need to work with actual Chicano and BIPOC artists. Even so, I think graffiti is a form of public art that should be decriminalized.
Hello Yvette!
ReplyDeleteI know exactly where this piece is in Olvera street! Even though it was whitewashed you can still see through it a little and it makes me so sad when I visit Olvera. I learned about the past of Olvera street here in UCLA and I had no idea it was put forth into construction by a white woman who intended to capitalize on colonial Spanish conquest. Siquieros was one of los grandes and to have one of his pieces here LA in places that are predominately Latin American would have been an honor. It still pissed me off how even back then just like it still happens now, whiteness is still trying to spread in our communities and influence eraser on our true history.