Avila, Andrew

    This particular image of Carmen Lomas Garza is called Breakdancers, San Francisco circa 1988. I chose to speak about this particular image because Garza depicts life in the mission district during the 80’s. In the image Garza depicts four young men whom she refers to as “Cholos” breakdancing in front of a store. According to Garza the young men had taped a large sheet of corrugated cardboard to the ground in front of the store, and placed their boombox several feet away. Perhaps what is most interesting regarding this particular image is the fact that all four dancers are simultaneously dancing to the same music coming from the boombox, yet Garza recounts each of them having their own distinct styles. 

    What I love most about this image is that even though each of the dancers are dancing to the same music they each feel something different, and express those feelings to the world. I feel close to this image mainly because I’ve never really been just an artist. In community college I was an art student/student athlete, and I felt like I was never taken seriously by most of the other art students in my department. It seemed to me that my professors and my classmates didn’t really understand why I was not solely dedicated to my art, and because of that it seemed like they didn't really take my art seriously. What I like about this image is that Gaarza refers to the young men specifically as “Cholos”, a term with negative connotations, but despite this everyone is mesmerized by their dancing. I like the fact that even though Garza and the other people who stopped to watch, who would have normally just written these kids off, were instead mesmerized at the fact that these kids were capable of creating such passionate forms of art (breakdancing). It just goes to show that art can come from even the most unlikely places, and that it is worth celebrating.