Week 8: Chicano Art

"Chicano Art: Looking Backward" by Shifra M. Goldman critically analyzes and critiques "looking back" at Chicano art as a thing of the past. More importantly, she reviews two art exhibitions and how they contribute to misrepresenting Chicano art. Goldman states, "Chicano art is barely entering the establishment art structure composed of galleries, private collections, museums, critics, and periodicals" (436). She says that Chicano art has not been accepted by the "mainstream" for decades and is manipulated by the market to be profitable by museums and collectors. Thus Chicano art seems as if it has emerged from the Chicano movement itself rather than as an artistic expression. She evaluates that the "retrospective" prospective is harmful because it shows on older generations of artists rather than the change the movement has caused. 

She takes a lens and spotlights Califas which was organized by an art professor from UC Santa Cruz. He had an array of Chicana and Chicano artists including Carmen Lomas Garza, Judy Baca, Roberto Chavez, and more, exhibit one to three of their works. She says their choice of media reflects their community, but involvement in art organizations shows how they create a sense of their own cultural structure (437).  Goldman states that Califas fails to highlight this within its exhibition as it's cramped and doesn't showcase that history. To put it simply, the gallery layout failed to showcase the art in the way it was intended. I'm not an artist myself, so spatial location isn't something I particularly pay attention to, but it's fascinating to hear Goldman's perspective of it. 

Judithe Hernandez (artist in Murals of Aztlan) in front of one of her murals.

She also critiques Murals of Aztlan, saying it is "artificially construct" (436). She is more critical of how the museum presents it--not the artists themselves. She notes that their murals were sold and made marketable which defeats the purpose of street art. It invalidates the meaning of mural since they're disembodied from the wall and transferred to canvas. She also notes how it was called "folk art" which isn't accurate at all. It just tokenizes the artwork and artists creating it. It is dehumanizing and disappointing to hear how museums and other art institutions pick up Chicano work but whitewash it with their displays and language. For a Chicano artist, I think it would be an honor to have their artwork finally displayed publically, but for the exhibition to misrepresent them and their art--it has to be like a  punch in the gut.