Week Seven Discussion Post: Public Art

     Chicano and Chicana Art: A Critical Anthology as assembled by Jennifer A. González, C. Ondine Chavoya, Chon Noriega, Terezita Romo "provides an overview of the history and theory of Chicano/a art from the nineteen-sixties to the present, emphasizing the debates and vocabularies that have played key roles in its conceptualization (Duke University Press). As such, the assignment at hand was undertaken through the inclusion of landmark and foundational texts and manifestos. One of which references the case-study document Space, Power, and Youth Culture: Mexican American Graffiti and Chicano Murals in East Los Angeles, Nineteen-Seventy-Two-Nineteen-Seventy-Eight composed by Marcos Sánchez-Tranquilino. Here, he aims to demonstrate that Mexican American graffiti cannot be constituted as vandalism, as it is a visual system generated by Mexican American barrio calligraphers as means to survive, communicate, and "keep a public check on the abuse of power in the streets (Sánchez-Tranquilino, 280). He does this through the incorporation of a study chronicle on the Estrada Courts housing project in East Los Angeles.  Moreover, he seeks to uncover the parallels between Mexican American graffiti and Chicane murals to argue that the graffiti works were a precursor to the murals.

    In all, I was tremendously taken aback at how thorough and thoughtful the essay was. In particular, I appreciated how Sánchez-Tranquilino managed to dissect the intricacies of Mexican American graffiti and observed it for more than what individuals believed it to me. He accurately described it as an artistic visual system that, although associated with gang culture in East Los Angeles, relayed significant messages of defiance and would go on to inspire the next generation of artists from los barrios, Chicane muralists. Previously, I had seen graffiti as merely an extension of a language system that used walls like paper. However, upon reading this article I came to comprehend the sincere artistic labor that went into creating these placas and how much of an impact, both positive and negative, they had on an entire community. Moreover, as I read on I became quite nervous when Sánchez-Tranquilino mentioned that a form of "revitalization" occurred in Estrada Courts wherein the graffiti was taken down and artists were asked to present their works, which were grounded in Chicanisme, on the newly bared walls. I feared that this would be like a type of cultural erasure by outsiders. Though much to my surprise, this project was headed by former members of the Estrada Courts gang. They sought to reconstruct their community and give an avenue of expression to Chicane artists who were just starting out and youth who were at risk of joining gangs and getting into trouble. Overall, I contend that there is much to be learned from analyzing the significances found amongst Mexican American graffiti, as without it, the chances of Chicane art, as created by Chicanes themselves, existing within los barrios is extremely slim.